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A SECRET QUESl 


BY 




GEO. MANVILLE FENN 


u 

AUTHOR OF “A MINT OF MONEY,” “A GOLDEN DREAM,” 
“THE MASTER OF THE CEREMONIES,” ETC. 



NEW YORK 

JOHN A. TAYLOR AND COMPANY 

1 19 Potter Building 



Copyright, 1892, by 
JOHN A. TAYLOR AND COMPANY 


I 







A SECRET QUEST. 


CHAPTER I. 

“ How could I have been such a fool as to write 
them?” 

Lord Desborough was seated in his official chair 
at his morocco leather covered table in Downing 
Street — a table heaped with parliamentary papers 
and blue books, whose perusal he had left to stare 
blankly at a couple of letters, both of which were 
in a formal clerkly hand, with the word “ copy” 
written in the top left comer of each. 

“ I must have been mad. ” 

His lordship gave each letter an angry flip, 
folded it, and carefully replaced it in the inner 
fold of his pocket-book, which he thrust into his 
breast; and then sat with puckered brow — a hand- 
some man of eight-and-thirty, white-haired and 
black bearded — gazing straight before him into 
space, where he was mapping out his future career. 

“Yes; better take a dose and make my quietus,” 
he said, half aloud. “Why the deuce doesn’t 
he come?” 

He drew himself up, for at that moment the 

5 


6 


A SECRET QUEST. 


door was opened and an attendant brought in a 
card. 

“ Show him in. ” 

The attendant went noiselessly out over the thick 
Turkey carpet, and Lord Desborough threw down 
the slip of cardboard, snatched up a parliamentary 
paper, and began to peruse it rapidly as the door 
was again opened. A keen-looking dark man, with 
peculiar puckers at the corners of his mouth, as if 
he were trying to suppress a smile, was ushered in. 

The new-comer advanced silently two or three 
steps; the door closed behind him, and he stood 
slowly swinging a new glossy . hat, regarding 
through his thick brows the reader of the paper. 

“You miserable humbug!” said the visitor to 
himself. 

“Ahem!” coughed Lord Desborough; then, 
with an affected start, “ Ah, my dear Mr. Ander- 
son, I did not hear you come in. ” 

“ Pray do not apologize, my lord. The State’s 
business needs no excuse. ” 

“ Thank you, Anderson ; you are very good ; but 
they must wait for awhile. I want to consult you 
about a bit of business of my own.” 

“ Woman in the case for a fiver,” said the visitor 
to himself. 

“Sit down, Anderson,” continued his lordship, 
pointing to a chair and swinging his own round so 
as to give himself room to cross one leg over his 
knee and hold it with both hands. 

Then the two keen men of the world sat gazing 
in each other’s eyes as if trying to read one an- 


A SECRET QUEST. 7 

other’s thoughts. There was a pause of quite a 
minute, before Lord Desborough spoke. 

“Well, Anderson,” he said. “I suppose I must 
make a clean breast of it.” 

“ Best way, my lord, with the social doctors.” 

“ Social doctors? Yes, that’s what you lawyers 
are, confound you!” 

Lord Desborough wrinkled his face as he placed 
one white finger to his lips, and then began to bite 
his nails, but snatched his hand away with an an- 
gry ejaculation. 

“ I — I hardly know how to begin,” he said, im- 
patiently. 

“ It is very simple, my lord. I suppose you 
trust me?” ' 

“ Of course I do, Anderson, or I should not have 
sent for you ; but er — but er ” 

“ As your confidential adviser may I venture — a 
lady in the case?” 

“ Confound it ! Yes, of course there is. They’re 
at the bottom of all trouble. The fact is, in an 
hour of folly, Anderson, I wrote a letter or two— 
to a lady; and a confounded meddlesome friend is 
holding them over me in terrorem."' 

“H’m! question of money?” said the lawyer. 

“ No, hang it! If it had been that I should have 
snarled, ^^ritten my check, and paid; but this man 
threatens exposure.” 

“Which, seeing the position you occupy — a 
minor post in the Government, and a future that 
may mean perhaps the leadership— would be po- 
litical ruin,” 


8 


A SECRET QUEST'. 


“ Exactly, Anderson, exactly. Now, you see, I 
want you to get those letters. ” 

“ How many are there?” 

“ Only two. The others are of no importance 
whatever. To put it plainly — if you will bring 
me my two letters, I will pay you two thousand 
pounds for them : a thousand apiece to see them 
burnt to ashes before my eyes.” 

“ Well, my lord, you may command me. Now 
for the particulars.” 

“I need tell you little. You may remember 
that two years ago the Princess Lani Va was over 
in England.” 

“ I remember: to make some appeal to the Gov- 
ernment about her late father’s territory. Rajah 
of — Rajah of ” 

“Villipore. Yes, that’s right,” said his lord- 
ship, impatiently. “Well, she was received in 
society and petted as the new lioness. I was in- 
troduced, and met her several times. We corre- 
sponded, and I acted like an idiotic boy. The 
woman took things au serieux^ and finally appealed 
to an old friend of her father. ” 

“Indeed!” said the lawyer, raising his dark 
brows a little. 

“Yes; one Colonel Denton.” 

“ Colonel John Barrow Denton,” said the lawyer 
to himself. 

“ He was resident many years at her father’s 
court ; and — confound him ! — he has got the letters, 
and has been writing me communications that 
are maddening.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


9 


“ Threatening expos^T' 

“ Exactly ; and those letters I must have. ” 

“ But he is sure to have copies.” 

“ Hang his copies! Only let me get the origi- 
nals. I could laugh at the others as forgeries — 
party malice, anything.” 

“ But you say he does not put a price on them?” 

“No; he’s rich enough; so is the woman. He 
takes what he calls high ground — wants repara- 
tion. The old scoundrel has me at his mercy, 
and may spring a mine upon me at any time. No, 
he will wait till I am well before the country, and 
then fire his fuse. I am at his mercy, and he has 
none.” 

“ It is awkward.” 

“Awkward? I tell you it is utter destruction 
to me. My political career will be ruined.” 

“Absolutely.” 

“ Now, Anderson, for goodness sake do not take 
that tone,” said his lordship, impatiently. “I 
sent for you to help me, not to make matters 
worse. ” 

“Not I. Look here,” said the lawyer, eagerly; 
“why not have set a clever detective to work. 
He might have got hold of the letters.” 

“My dear sir!” cried his lordship, impatiently; 
“don’t come here and suggest all those trite 
dodges. I have tried everything of that kind. 
His apartments and the hotels at which he has 
stayed have been searched again and again.” 

“ Then you come to me as a fortune-teller?” 

“ Of course I do, and you are the right man. If 


A SECRET QUEST. 


TO 

I had wanted shrewd clerks, or people of that class, 
I could have had hundreds. Something out of 
the ordinary line must be tried, and I want you 
to take it up yourself.” 

“ And my practice?” 

“ Hang your practice, man ! Succeed in this, and 
you shall not want for practice. I mean to rise — - 
high, Anderson ; and so shall you. I will not be 
ungrateful. There, I have told you what I will 
pay for the letters; but money is no object. You 
will charge me for your time and expenses, of 
course.” 

“Thanks. Then what do you want me to do 
first?” 

“Confound it all, man! how should I know? 
That’s your business. I’ve given time to it till I 
have neglected the country’s affairs, and now I 
relegate it all to you.” 

“Where is this man?” 

“ I don’t know. He has slipped through my 
fingers. That is the last card he has played 
after telling me to beware.” 

“ Let me see ; there was an old Indian officer of 
that name staying, three weeks ago, at the Grand 
Hotel, Brighton.” 

“Was,” said Lord Desborough, bitterly; “but 
he is gone — no one knows where.” 

“ H — m! You are sure he has the letters?” 

“ Perfectly. He sent me copies. Here they are. ” 

He took the notes from his pocket-book, and the 
lawyer perused them with the shadow of a grim 
smile on his lip. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


II 


“ Yes; they are ugly — for you,” said the lawyer, 
returning them. 

“As if I did not know that.” 

“ What sort of a man is he?” 

“ Fiery old Indian officer, great invalid and 
hypochondriac.” 

Anderson sat with his head bent, and his eyes 
fixed on the carpet, as his lordship continued: 

“ Travels about a great deal for his health, and 
takes physic by the gallon. Ah, if he would only 
poison himself some day!” 

“Creaking doors hang longest, my lord,” said 
Anderson, dryly. 

“Yes, confound him! Let me see, he has a 
daughter who travels with him.” 

“Also a friend of your lordship’s?” said Ander- 
son, gazing at the handsome diplomat in a pecul- 
iarly searching manner. 

“ Hang it, man, no! Never seen her; and don’t 
want to. Now, then, I’m very busy — a hundred 
important things waiting. What more do you 
want?” 

“Let me see: I know the name — Colonel John 
Barrow Denton.” 

“ I did not say so — only Denton. ” 

“ Must be the same. Well-known man. Resi- 
dent of Villipore. No, I don’t think you can help 
me any more. Gone away, you think, to avoid 
you?” 

“Yes, and because my people have been hunt- 
ing him, and made him’ suspicious. His last letter 
was posted in London ; but that would be done by 


12 


A SECRET QUEST. 


some friend. Depend upon it, he has left Eng- 
land for a time. You will want some money.” 

“Yes, but I need not trouble you yet.” 

“ And you will get me these letters?” 

“ If they are in existence.” 

“ That’s right. Good-morning. ” 

“ Good-morning, my lord. I will write as soon 
as I have news.” 

“And you will devote yourself to the task?” 

“ Nothing else shall occupy my mind, my lord. 
Good-day.” 

“ Only one other thing and that will hold its 
own,” thought Lawrence Anderson, as he went 
slowly out into Whitehall. “ But how strange! 
What a little world it is, and how curiously Fate 
works her ways'! Just as I was going down to try 
and see her again. H’m! Left Brighton, have 
they? Well, the world is not big enough for any 
one to hide in these days. Try some new plan? 
There it is, my lord, already shaped out. Beauti- 
ful Hester once softened, it would be very strange 
if I could not get hold of the letters. ” 

He raised his umbrella to a cabman, sprang into 
the vehicle, said “ Charing Cross” shortly and then 
sank back, musing. 

“A pleasant jaunt. Gone abroad, of course. 
Well, I want a holiday — to make love. Where 
will it be? Scotland? The Lakes? vSouth De- 
von? Stop!” He checked the cabman. “Go to 
Craig’s Court.” 

He was driven there; for a sudden thought 
had occurred to him. Colonel Denton, as an old 


A SECRET QUEST. 


13 


Indian officer, would be sure to have had dealings 
with an army agent and banker. So Anderson 
tried first one and then another, till he found the 
right one in a street close by Charing Cross. 

The rest was plain, and Lawrence Anderson 
smiled as he thought how easy a discovery is to 
the man whose well-worked brain suggests a right 
clew. 

“Hester,” he said more than once that night; 
and his mind’s eye was full of a sweet English 
face — one of those which made men turn when 
they have passed it. 


I 


CHAPTER IL 

“ It’s of no use; it’s all over, Hester. Just as I 
have at last found a new interest in life, and can 
redress the wrongs of that poor woman. Oh, my 
leg, my leg!” 

“Are you in so much pain, papa, dear?” 

“Pain? Don’t you see I am in agony? Pain? 
Pshaw!” 

“ Let me alter your position a little, and put 
that cushion to support your back. ” 

“What? Don’t touch me; let me die in peace. ” 

“Oh, papa!” 

“ Let me die in peace, I say. It’s all over now; 
it’s the death pangs coming on. How could you 
be so heartless as to drag me away from Brighton 
to this dreary desolate valley? Ugh! it’s horrible. 
Shiver, shiver, shiver. May; and the snow and 
ice up there hemming us in as if it was the North 
pole.” 

“ But, papa, dear, you know how you were com- 
plaining of the heat yesterday. ” 

“Yes; internal heat. Fever. Where’s my 
thermometer?’ 

Hester Denton ran to a side table in the pretty 
room of the chalet where her father, Colonel John 
Barrow Denton, a fine bronzed officer, lay back on 
^4 


A SECRET QUEST. 1 5 

his couch, and returned with a tiny morocco case, 
whose clasp she hastily opened. 

“Mind!” cried the Colonel, “it isn’t a toy. 
You’ll break it — give it to me. I’m dying — going 
off fast. Not a doctor within five hours’ walk. 
Oh, why did I let you drag me here?” 

“ How can you be so cruel to me, papa? You 
know you insisted upon coming abroad, and chose 
this out-of-the-way valley yourself.” 

“ That’s right, madam. Go on. ” 

“Well, papa, dear, you said you must come 
abroad for special reasons, and yet you blame me. ” 

“ Oh, my leg — my leg!” 

“ Let me ” 

“Ah! Don’t touch me, or I shall go off like a 
blown-out candle. That’s right; trample on me 
now I’m helpless. Of course; I was obliged to 
come abroad. Do you think I was going to stop 
in England and be hunted and watched by detec- 
tives. Oh dear — oh dear! To die this dog’s 
death, out here under these mountains, with the 
snow ready to crush us, and that cursed cataract 
always roaring in my ears. There, give me the 
thermometer.” 

“ I did give it to you, papa,” said Hester, whose 
eyes were red with weeping, her face drawn and 
puckered with anxiety as she bent over the in- 
valid’s couch, her sweet, animated face full of 
sympathy. 

“Ah! yes, I forgot.” 

The Colonel drew out the fragile thermometer, 
and with trembling hands placed the little silvery 


i6 


A SECRET QUEST. 


bulb beneath his tongue, and lay back with his 
handsome face full of pain and anxiety, twitch- 
ing, too, now and then, as some spasm shot through 
him. 

For a few minutes there was silence in the room, 
through which came a deep-toned roar, as of some 
mighty organ. The sun shone brightly; the 
sweet, lemony scent of the pines floated in by the 
open window, and through an opening in the trees 
could be seen, in all its dazzling purity, a snow- 
covered peak, glittering in the morning sun. 

But Hester Denton heard and saw nothing but 
her invalid father, broken and suffering from the 
consequences of thirty years’ residence in India; 
and there was nothing droll to her in his aspect, 
as he lay there with his crisp silver hair brushed 
fiercely above his high forehead, apparently smok- 
ing the tube of a small glass pipe. 

“ Now then, look quickly, my girl,” he said, as he 
removed the thermometer, and held it with trem- 
bling fingers. “ What is it? Hundred and seven, 
I know. Another degree, and I shall be a dead 
man.” 

“ Papa ! it’s only ninety-eight ; that’s about blood 
heat, isn’t it?” 

“Nonsense! I’m burnt up with the cursed old 
jungle fever. Look again: hundred and seven, 
I’m sure.” 

“It is not, dear; look.” 

“Then it’s this wretched, cold, snowy climate 
keeps the mercury down in the bulb. Put it 
away. ” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


17 


S 


“Yes, papa.” 

He threw his head back, and closed his eyes with 
so deep a groan that his child bent down over him 
again, her soft gray eyes wild with terror. Then 
she rushed from the room, and out of the cottage, 
to where, seated beneath a clump of pines, a 
plump, pleasant-looking little lady of about five- 
and-thirty, dressed in half mourning, was dividing 
her time between stitching and placidly gazing 
up at the great snow slope away above the back 
of the chalet. 

“ Aunt — Aunt Ecclesia, ” cired the girl excitedly ; 
“come quickly: papa’s dying.” * 

“Stuff! my dear, ’’said the little lady, smiling. 
“ He’s always dying.” 

“But, aunt, he is very, very bad, indeed!” 

“ Of course he is, my dear. He would have that 
Swiss champagne yesterday, ” said the lady, rising. 

“ I never saw him so bad before.” 

“ Nonsense, my dear. He makes a terrible fuss 
about it. I do not go on like that when I have 
neuralgia so badly. ” 

By this time they were at the door, and as they 
hurried into the room — 

“ Well, John, dear; is your leg so bad?” 

There was a deep groan, and a spasm of pain 
convulsed the sufferer’s countenance, making him 
open his eyes for a moment before he closed them 
again tightly. 

“ How are you now, papa? Shall I send at once 
for a doctor?” 

“ Dying — dying — dying!” groaned the sufferer. 

2 


i8 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“You are not, John, dear. It’s all stuff and 
nonsense,” said the little lady, bending down and 
kissing his forehead, quickly. “ Why, your head’s 
as cool as cool. ” 

“ It’ll be colder soon,” said the Colonel. 

“Oh, papa!” sobbed Hester, as she flung her 
arms round him, and burst into a wild fit of sob- 
bing, which made him draw her closely to his side. 

“You ought to be ashamed of yourself, John,” 
said the little lady, calmly. “ You’ll break poor 
Hetty’s heart. It’s too bad making so much fuss 
over a bit of pain.” 

“ Fuss?” cried the Colonel, in anything but a 
dying man’s voice. 

“Yes: fuss. You knowhow delicate you are, 
and what a state your liver is in, and yet you will 
persist in eating and drinking what is not good for 
you. Dying? Stuff! You’ll outlive me.” 

“ Oh, if I were only strong again, madam, and 
this was India instead of this wretched gash in a 
hideous Swiss mountain, I would outlive you, for 
I’d hand you over to the Thugs.” 

“No, you wouldn’t, John, dear,” said the little 
lady, composedly, settling herself in a comfortable 
lounge, one of many luxuries the Colonel had had 
brought from Berne; “you’re too fond of me.” 

“Fond of you, you miserable, smooth, plump 
Persian cat of a woman!” 

“Aunt, dear, pray be silent. Papa, do — do be 
calm. You are making yourself worse.” 

“No, my dear, I shall not be silent,” said the 
little lady, stitching away, “ I’m doing him good.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


19 


“ Hetty,” cried the Colonel, lifting himself up a 
little, and shaking his fist at the pretty pink and 
white fair-haired lady in her easy-chair, “ look at 
that woman. See how soft and smooth she is, 
with her claws hidden under the fur, and her white 
teeth all ready to bite. She tempted your poor 
Uncle Sam into marrying her, and then she made 
his life a misery, and worried him to death.” 

“ Don’t you believe him, Hetty. If I had been 
such a wretch, papa wouldn’t have had me here 
to pet and make such a fuss over me as he does. ” 

“She did — a false, smooth, white cat, Hetty,” 
roared the Colonel. 

“ He was very fond of me, as you know, Hetty; 
and I was very fond of him. ” 

“ Bah ! Nothing of the kind. You married him 
for his money.” 

“No, John, dear. I married him because he 
asked me to come and make his old life happy, 
and I tried to do my. duty by him while he 
lived.” 

“Aunt, dear — pray, pray,” whispered Hester, 
looking piteously from one to the other. 

“ Hetty, give me a glass of that Kirsch in a 
tumbler of Apollinaris, ” said the Colonel. 

“ Ought you to take it, papa?” 

“ What, are you going to rebel against me now? 
Quick!” 

The liqueur and mineral water were mixed, and 
the “dying” man drained the tumbler, drew a 
long breath,- and then uttered a deep sigh. 

“ Yes, you were a dear good girl to him, Eccle- 


20 


A SECRET QUEST. 


sia,” he said. “Oh, dear me! I do wish I wasn’t 
such a beast!” 

“Papa, dear!” cried Hester, excitedly; “is the 
pain better?” 

“ Gone, my dear. It was just like a wolf at my 
leg till he gave a final shake with his teeth and 
left me.” 

“And you will not die this time, John dear,” 
said the little lady, merrily. 

“ I won’t ; I’ll live to look after you ; for I’m not 
blind.” 

“John, what do you mean?” cried Aunt Eccle- 
sia, changing color a little and altering her tone. 

“What do I mean? Here have we been two 
months in this valley, ^and it’s having a bad effect 
upon you.” 

“John!” 

“ Oh yes, I know. Read your Tennyson. ” 

“ I don’t understand you, sir.” 

“ And you too, Hetty. I tell you I’m not blind. ” 

“ Papa, dear, what are you thinking?” 

“ Ask your aunt.” 

“Oh, nonsense. I don’t know, John,” said the 
little lady, sticking her needle into the fabric she 
worked quite viciously. 

“ Then ask Hetty. Here have I come out to Swit- 
zerland and chosen th© most out-of-the-way place 
in all the country to avoid one trouble, and find 
myself over head and ears in another.” 

“ Hetty, my dear, your papa’s going to have 
another fit. ” 


A SECRET QUEST, 


21 


“Not to-day, my dear. But look here: I don’t 
approve of these two mountaineering chaps hang- 
ing about at this little hotel. ” 

“Don’t be absurd, John,” said Aunt Ecclesia; 
“ the place is free to everybody. ” 

“I wasn’t speaking to you; but I’m going to 
now. I don’t approve of you making eyes at that 
big, good-looking guide fellow — berg fiihrer, as he 
calls himself.” 

“John!” 

“ It would be a terrible mesalliance^ and I will not 
have it.” 

“Oh, I cannot sit here to be insulted!” cried 
Aunt Ecclesia, jumping up with flaming cheeks. 
“ It is positively disgraceful, John — that it is.” 

She rustled out of the room, and hurried back to 
her seat under the firs. 

“Look at her,” said the Colonel; “just like a 
white bantam hen which has seen a frog.” 

“ Papa, you should not tease her like that.” 

“Then she should not come and torment me 
when I am in such agony. ’ There, I’m better now. 
Come out and have a walk. Pussy, and then I’ll 
write my Lord Desborough such a letter as shall 
make him squirm. ” 

“ Papa dear, why do you worry yourself about 
that matter?” 

“ Eh? Because it does me good. I’m not going 
to rust myself away. Oh, if this were only the 
good old times!” 

“ They were not better than the present, dear. ” 


22 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ That they were. Fifty or sixty years ago, a 
gentleman could call out a scoundrel and shoot 
him. ThaFs just what I should do to my lord. 
There, come along and let’s go and have a look at 
the waterfall. ” 


CHAPTER III. 


Colonel John Barrow Denton strode out of the 
chalet by his daughter’s side, as soon as she had 
covered her rich auburn hair with a simple straw 
hat; and a stranger who had encountered the slim, 
handsome, upright, elderly man — quite the beau 
sab r ear ^ who had led a regiment of irregular horse 
scores of times to victory — would have been hard 
set to believe it was the same man who had been 
groaning on his couch an hour before. 

“By Jove, Hetty!” he cried; “this country 
makes one feel elastic. I shall begin climbing a 
mountain before long.” 

“ Then it isn’t a dreadful gash in the mountains, 
papa, and horribly cold,” said Hester, mischiev- 
ously. 

“ Now, now, now !” he cried ; “ don’t you trample 
on me, Hetty ; that’s Aunt Ecclesia’s prerogative. 
My word, ” he continued, stopping to take off his 
sun helmet and wiping his brow, “ the sun does 
come down hot!” 

“ Listen,” said Hester, holding up one finger as, 
from far distant, right up where the snow spread 
down to the creeping fir and whortleberry bushes, 
there came the sweet, melodious chiming of the 
cow-bells, their wearers looking as small as goats, 
while a herd of these latter in the distance, on the 

23 


24 


A SECRET QUEST. 


Other side of the valley, seemed to be dwarfed to 
the size of rabbits. 

“Lovely place, Hetty, lovely, "said the Colonel. 

One seems to live again here. ” 

“ Do yon think we could climb up there, papa?” 
said Hester, after a pause, during which they had 
been drinking in the beauty of this lovely, retired 
spot. 

As Hester spoke she pointed at the piled-up 
precipices behind the chalet^ where the pure, white 
snow lay on the slope and deep in many a couloir 
— farther and farther for miles, till all was glacier, 
firn^ and the newly fallen snow of a few nights 
before. 

“Well, I don’t know, my dear. An hour ago I 
felt as if I could never walk up to my bedroom 
again ; now I could do anything. ” 

“ It would be very beautiful. ” 

“Lovely. We’ll see some day. That’s the way 
they go to the big glacier, isn’t it?” 

“I think so.” 

They walked on over the springy heather, 
amid patches of wild flowers, and then through 
the tall spruce firs, from whose branches hung 
heavy gray lichen, and as they went on the deep, 
sonorous roar of falling water grew louder and 
louder. Among the mossy rocks, tumbled down 
from the valley side ages before, the tender green 
of the young ferns was peeping ; and a rough plank 
over which they stepped crossed a stream of thick 
gray milky water, the outpourings of one of the 
stone-grinding glaciers far above their heads; 


A SECRET QUEST. 


25 


while a hundred yards farther their course was 
beside the waters of a spring clear as crystal, and 
sparkling in the sun as the stream hurried on to 
join the river which rushed down the valley. This 
river tore down the narrow valley with headlong 
violence, till it reached a spot where the rocks 
closed in, and then made one bound into a terrific 
chasm, two hundred feet in depth. A wooden 
bridge crossed the gulf just where the river 
dropped, carrying with it stones, roots of trees, and 
often great trunks, some of which lay wedged in 
among the rocks, battered, ragged, and torn, bom- 
barded as they were by the furious fall. 

“The sun is just right,” said Hester, “and we 
shall have the iris in perfection ; and ” 

“Confound them!” said the Colonel, gruffly. 
“ Look here, Hetty ; if those fellows are going to 
stop loafing about that little hotel any longer, Fm 
going away. I believe they are spies, ” 

“Oh, papa! you don’t think so.” 

“Yes, I do.” 

“ Good-morning.” 

“ Good-morning.” 

The utterances of two gentlemen in the familiar 
dress of young Englishmen on a mountaineering 
excursion ; their heavy-greased and nailed boots, 
and the ice axes they carried, wearing a well-used 
look that told of hard work — signs indorsed by 
their. brown faces. 

The Colonel touched his helmet stiffly, and 
marched on with his daughter, who courteously 
returned the salutes. 


26 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Morgen. ” 

Morning, morning,” said the Colonel, unbend- 
ing now to the salute of a handsome, dark fellow, . 
whose felt hat was decorated with ^ a cluster of 
freshly-plucked edelweiss, which he quickly pulled 
out and stood, hat in hand, as he offered it with a 
smile to Hester. 

Danke schon” she said, taking the tribute. 

The man shifted the coil of rope slung over 
his shoulder as he stood smiling at them — a 
fine, honest-looking specimen of a Swiss peasant 
guide, while the Colonel thrust his hand into his 
pocket. 

“ Sehr gut^ ” said the guide, resting on his ice- 
axe, whose head he used as a walking-stick. 
“ Fraiche pickr as he pointed high up toward a gap 
on the other side of the valley. 

“ He has been up the mountain and picked them, 
papa,” said Hester. 

yi?,” cried the guide eagerly, who seemed 
to understand her words ; “ pick — 7norgen — berg 
hochste spitz. 

“ They have been making an ascent of the 
Schnee Horn.” 

“And welcome,” said the Colonel. “Here, get 
yourself a glass. ” 

He held out a franc; but the guide frowned, 
shook his head, and strode on after the two young 
Englishmen. 

“ You have hurt his feelings, papa,” said Hester, 
quickly. 

“ Pride of the cobbler’s dog,” grumbled the Col- 


A SECRET QUEST. 


27 


onel, taking out a handsome cigar case. “ Here, 
hi ! have a cigar?” 

The man turned, and his face lit up with smiles, 
took the cigar offered to him, raised his hat again 
to both, and turned to go; but stopped short, 
tucked his ice-axe under his arm, and held out the 
rope, which he untwisted a little to show a red 
strand running through it. 

“ Anglisher,” he said, smiling; se hr gut ” 

“I hope so,” said the Colonel, as the man 
walked on after his employers; “but I pity the 
poor fellow who has to hang on it over a crevice. 
There, Hetty, our walk’s over. Those two fel- 
lows are humbugs; they’ve engaged the guide, 
who seems an honest fellow, but they’re here to 
watch me. Detectives in disguise. ” 

“ Surely not, papa, ” said Hester, coloring a little, 
and the more deeply as she tried to hide it. 
“Gretchen said they were English gentlemen, 
staying at the little chalet hotel. But let’s go on 
for our walk. ” 

“What does Gretchen know about it? Every 
foreigner with money is a gentleman to those peo- 
ple. Here, let’s go back.” 

“Back, papa?” 

“Yes. ‘ Diamond cut diamond. ’ If those scoun- 
drels are going to watch me. I’m going to watch 
them.” 

“But, papa, you are mistaken,” said Hester, 
uneasily. 

“ I never am mistaken, ” cried the Colonel, an- 
grily, as he began to retrace his steps. “ Those 


28 


A SECRET QUEST. 


fellows are dogging me. They have found their 
way out here, and I am just going to see whether 
they take the way back to the hotel.” 

“But it will look so strange,” said Hester, un- 
easily. 

“ Let it. Come along. ” 

He drew his child’s hand through his arm, and 
they followed the guide slowly, seeing him hurry 
on to join the two young men in front. As the 
trio reached the path which led up to where the 
chalet stood upon its verdant shelf, they all stopped 
and stood gazing at it. 

“There,” said the Colonel, who was in the 
shelter of a clump of pines; “what did I say? 
Yes, we shall have to leave here; but I can fight 
Master Desborough with his own weapons. Have 
they gone up to the chalet I Then it’s to question 
Aunt Ecclesia, or else to make a search. Here 
they think they have caught me napping; but I’ve 
such a flank movement for them as shall be a 
startler.” 

“ But they have gone on toward the hotel, dear,” 
said Hester, with a sigh of relief. 

“Eh I nevermind: I’ll see if they do go there 
after all.” 

The Colonel increased his pace as well as the 
rugged path would allow till they came abreast of 
an opening in the side of the valley running up to 
the right, and here they had to cross and meet the 
little side streams. They were down now below 
huge masses of rocks which shut out the rift run- 


A SECRET QUEST. 


49 


, nlng up toward the great snow slopes and the gla- 
cier in the chasm above, and the party in front 
were some distance ahead. 

“ They’re hiding, ” said the Colonel, suspiciously, 
as he stopped short. 

“No,’ no, papa; there is one of them climbing 
that slope. You must, indeed, be wrong here; 
let’s go back and see the cascade.” 

“ What’s that? Thunder?” said the Colonel. 

The day was brilliant; not a cloud to be seen; 
but a terrific roar, as of many thunders, came 
booming from the chasm up to their right, chill- 
ing both with horror as they realized what was 
upon them. The Colonel caught Hester’s hand. 
Then he pointed, and they set off over the rugged 
path, to get beyond the opening of the little lateral 
valley; but a horse at full gallop could not have 
reached the place in time. The deafening roar 
increased, and as they gazed wildly up, there was 
what seemed to be a huge storm of spray rushing 
toward them, with the shrieking of wind, the 
crashing of trees, and the booming of rocks forced 
on by the huge mass of ice and snow, which, with 
rapidly gathering speed, swept down the ravine, 
and literally leaped into the lower valley. 

Hester Denton was conscious of a sudden, stun- 
ning blow; then all was darkness, insensibility, 
and a stillness in the valley that was awful. 

Three miles up in the ice fields the sun had 
loosened a few frozen stones. These had fallen 
and dislodged a little snow; the snow had dropped 


30 


A SECRET QUEST. 


on to a steep slope, where what seemed to be a 
bed of hailstones lay, a couple of score feet deep. 
These began to move, gathered impetus and speed, 
and in a few minutes the mighty avalanche had 
swept down the hollow, carrying before it ruin, 
devastation and death. 


CHAPTER IV. 


“ Look here, old man, if you are going- to carry 
on these games, let’s go back to the hotel, pay the 
bill, shake hands and separate.” 

“ What games?” said Adam Deane, frowning. 

“ Bless his innocency!” cried Aleck Frant, giv- 
ing his ice-axe a swing, and cutting off the head 
of a plant. 

“Can’t a man say a few civil words to a pretty 
girl without being bullied for ‘carrying on these 
games, ’ as you call it? Besides, little Gretchen is 
Valter’s sweetheart.” 

Aleck Frant, a little Hercules of a fellow, ut- 
tered a snort, tapped his black briar- wood pipe on 
a rock, and began to refill it. 

“Valter! Why can’t you say Walter?” 

“Because he calls himself the former,” said 
Adam Deane, quietly watching his friend as he 
filled his pipe. 

“Don’t be an humbug, old man. You know 
what I mean; and, I say, look back: there’s the 
brave Swiss guide presenting the lady with that 
bunch of noble white we got up yonder. ” 

“ Well, ladies like flowers. ” 

Frant laughed mockingly, as he struck a match. 

“I saw how green you looked as we passed. 
Did you see the old boy’s face?” 

31 


32 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“No,” said Adam, thoughtfully. 

“Of course you didn’t! I suppose the hunt for 
the old mines will be all over now, and I may do 
my climbing alone. ” 

“ Do you wish to.-*” 

“ Of course I don’t; and I should be sorry to see 
you going hopelessly to the bad. I did think that 
out in this wilderness there would be no petticoats 
to attract you. ” 

“I’m thinking, Aleck, that we are going all 
wrong. ” 

“ I’m thinking you are going all wrong.” 

“ And that we ought to try the other side of the 
valley. — Ah! here comes Valter. I say, what a 
brick of a fellow he is. The more I climb with 
him, the more I like him.” 

“Yes, he is a thoroughly unspoiled, manly fel- 
low; but I wish he wasn’t quite so fond of trying 
his English.” 

“ I dare say he thinks the same about our Ger- 
man. Well, to set aside all chaff, you think we 
ought to try the other side up yonder. Suits me ; 
but it’s bad for your theory.” 

“Why?” 

“ Look at the snow and ice. ” 

“Yes,” said Adam, stopping to gaze upward 
through the narrow gorge ; “ but I am beginning 
to think that it is up some thal such as that the 
place lies.” 

“ But it would be covered in by snow.” 

“Exactly! and that’s why it has never been 
found.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


33 


“Very likely; and that’s why it never will be 
found until the snow and ice all melt away in some 
great alteration-change, as the Germans would 
call it. Light your pipe and sit down here ; we 
shall see a snow-fall.” 

“Without stopping to light my pipe,” said 
Adam, “look, there it comes.” 

He pointed up the gorge to what seemed to be a 
cataract that was pouring down from the heights, 
and a dull bellowing noise came echoing from the 
mountains. 

“Looks just like water,” said Frant, quietly. 
“ Good big one, too. I should like to see a regular 
bumper come down. Hullo! what is the matter 
with the noble berg scaler?” 

For the guide, evidently wild with excitement, 
came tearing up the road after them, shouting in 
German — 

“Run! run!” he cried. “The snow! the 
vsnow !” 

“But it can’t reach us,” said Adam, incredu- 
lously. Then, catching the infection from the 
guide, the two young men ran some fifty yards, as 
with a mighty rush the fall of snow, rocks, and 
shattered trees swept on, completely burying the 
rock round which their way had been, while the 
roar, echoing from side to side of the valley, died 
slowly away. 

“Why, Valter,” cried Adam, as with blanched 
face he turned to the panting guide ; “ that was a 
narrow escape.” 

“ Herr,” said the man, solemnly, as he took off 
3 


34 


A SECRET QUEST. 


his hat, “ half a minute later, and we should all 
have been in Heaven.” 

“Open to question,” said Frant, dryly; and he 
took off his hat, too, and wiped his brow. “ Deane, 
old man; that was a narrow squeak for us.” 

“Yes; thank God it did not come down near 
the chalet."' 

His eyes were fixed on Colonel Denton’s abode 
as he spoke, where it stood some hundred yards or 
so above the waste of snow and rock. “ Great 
heavens !” 

“What’s the matter? Hit!” cried Frant, catch- 
ing his friend’s arm, for he reeled as if he had 
been struck by a flying stone. 

“Those two!” gasped Deane; then turning to 
the guide: “The lady — the gentleman?” 

Ach Himmel!" yelled the man, and turning 
suddenly he waved his hand to them to follow as 
he leaped from rock to rock and down on to the 
snow. The two young men needed no shout, for 
they were already elose upon his heels, the trio 
making their way down toward the spot where the 
Colonel and his daughter had been last seen. 

But the spot was no longer there. In place of 
the path leading down to the wooden bridge which 
crossed the falls there was now ice and snow in 
drifts, piled up masses, and slopes full of debris. 

Valter, in spite of the activity of the young men, 
kept far ahead, looking sharply to right and left 
as he went on, seeking for landmarks where there 
existed none, save at a distance, for the face of 
nature had been completely changed. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


35 


At last he stopped, and as he stood knee deep in 
snow at a spot where it lay loose, though on either 
hand it had been solidated by pressure, he ex- 
claimed frantically in his own tongue : 

“The path forked here; that v^diy to the chalet, 
this way to the hotel. ” 

“ They may have reached home, then, and are 
safe,” cried Deane. 

‘‘No, I looked back; they were following us to- 
ward the hotel.” 

“ Then — you think ” 

Valter made a despairing gesture. 

“Then the path is this way,” cried Frant, ex- 
citedly. 

• “No, no, lower down; then it went up here, 
then down again into the hollow, and ascended 
up among the trees. ” 

To add to their horror, they saw two female 
figures hurrying down from the chalet. 

“ Have you seen the master — the young lady?” 
shouted the younger, a thick-set, rosy lass of 
about twenty. 

“Don’t ask me, Gretchen,” cried Valter, fran- 
tically. “ They were here — here. ” 

He stamped his foot upon the snow, and the 
girl uttered a piteous wail. 

“ Gentlemen, gentlemen,” panted Aunt Ecclesia, 
“for heaven’s sake don’t tell me that — that ” 

She could say no more, but stood by with 
blanched face, gazing from one to the other. 

Deane made a deprecatory motion with his 
hands, and then caught Valter’s arm. 


36 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Try and guess,” he said, huskily, “where- 
abouts would they be?” 

The guide shook his head in a hopeless way, 
but gazed sharply round, then sprang to one side, 
fixed his eyes on the slopes of the valley, and on 
the chalet^ and then turned his back. 

“Yes,” he said, quickly, “the path forked here. 
They were following — they must have been below 
the big rocks, for they were near them when I 
looked back.” 

“Yes, I remember the big rocks where the 
water trickled out of the rift,” cried Deane. “ But 
quick, man — where was that?” 

He held the guide’s arm in a grip as of iron as 
he spoke, but there was no reply for a few minutes. 

“Come,” said the latter, at last, and climbing 
and sliding along for some distance, he suddenly 
stopped. “The rocks should be here. Stand 
back.” 

Throwing off his hat, the coil of rope and his 
jacket, he swung his ice-axe and struck the snow, 
sending the icy particles flying glittering in the 
sunshine ; then he began to strike down and probe 
with the spike at the end of the handle. 

“ Yes,” he cried, “the edge must be down here.” 
He raised the axe again high in the air and struck, 
each time feeling that there was something solid 
below ; but at the third stroke the blade went right 
down out of sight, breaking through an icy crust, 
and making a hole big enough for a man to pass 
through. 

“He’s right,” cried Frant. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


37 


“The path is down there,” cried Valter, and at 
that moment there was a shout from the hotel path 
beyond the snow, where a party of six or seven 
men and women came running, the roar of the 
avalanche having given warning of the catas- 
trophe. 

Valter waved his hand to them to hasten, and 
then prepared to lower himself down through the 
hole, the snow below the mass of rock which shel- 
tered the path like a wall being there loose 
enough. The crust through which he had broken 
was solid ice. 

It was a vain effort, and he climbed back on to 
the surface with the look of despair deepening in 
his eyes. 

“Can we do nothing?” cried Deane. “Great 
heavens! They are here somewhere.” 

“If half the commune was here to dig, herr,” 
said the guide, sadly, “they could not save them. 
Tell me what to do. ” 

Deane looked wildly round, and the scene fully 
indorsed the man’s words. Everywhere about 
them was the piled-up, consolidated snow, hard 
now as ice, and mingled with the debris that had 
been torn from the upper valley and swept down. 
Masses of rock, a hundred tons in weight, had 
been carried from above like pebbles, and it 
seemed impossible that any one overtaken by the 
avalanche could be still living. 

“ Come this way, herr,” cried the guide. “ They 
may have been swept down before the snow;” and, 
leading on down among the stones and shattered 


38 


A SECRET QUEST, 




pine trees, he descended rapidly toward where the 
river ran. 

It was a difficult descent, now slipping on the ice, 
now falling into some hollow, and then dropping 
through into a gap lightly covered by snow. But 
before they had gone many yards it was to find 
that the edge of the fall was reached. 

“They could not have been swept down here,” 
said Frant, sadly, as they paused where a clump of 
firs was standing in almost their natural position, 
but bent over toward the river by a great heap of 
the white crystals whose course they had stayed. 

At that moment Deane uttered a wild cry and 
sprang to his left, the guide and Frant following, 
for his action needed no explanation. 

There, not ten yards away, visible above the 
surface, was a man’s clenched hand, with the 
sleeve torn back from the wrist and arm, and lying 
upon the snow. 

. “No, no; let me,” cried the guide. “Let’s see 
which way he lies.” 

He uttered a shout for help as he began work- 
ing, tearing among the snow with the ice-axe, and 
indicating to the young men how they could best 
help. 

“Work, Frant, work,” panted Deane, as he tore 
away at the snow, which, providentially, was free 
of the pressure which bore on other parts and 
turned it into solid ice ; so that before many min- 
utes had passed they had thrown aside their axe^ 
as being too dangerous, and were scooping away 
the crystals with their hands. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


39 


“Mind, mind,” Valter kept whispering, as the 
position in which the Colonel lay was made out ; 
and then he uttered a triumphant shout, for an- 
other arm was laid bare — thrown round the Colo- 
nel’s breast — and after a few more minutes’ toil 
Deane was able to pass his arm beneath Hester and 
raise her a little. But her face was buried in her 
father’s breast, his left arm being about her waist. 

The sufferers were hastily borne up to the cot- 
tage, where all seemed to give way naturally to 
the man who alone displayed a knowledge of what 
ought to be done under such circumstances — a 
knowledge gained in mountain accidents during 
his career as guide. 

“ One seems so helpless in a case like this, ” cried 
Deane, as he paced the little garden in front of 
the chalet with Frant, who smoked on now com- 
posedly enough. 

“Well, it isn’t our trade,” he said. 

“ But Valter is wrong, and we were idiots to 
listen to him and the landlord. We ought to have 
sent for the doctor at first.” 

“Couldn’t have got him here till to-morrow, 
man. Valter knows what to do. Besides, the aunt 
and the hotel landlady are with him.” 

“Yes, yes, man, I know; but they may be let- 
ting them slip through their fingers. Good heav- 
ens ! it is unbearable. Ah — here he is. ” 

For Valter came out of the chalet, and walked 
toward them. 

“Well!” cried Deane, catching his wrist; “are 
they recovering?” 


40 


A SECRET QUEST. 


The guide drew back sharply, took off his hat, 
placed his hand behind his ear, and sent forth a 
wild musical cry, full of changes and variations. 

“You idiot!” cried Deane. “Why don’t you 
speak?” 

“That’s plain enough, old man,” said Frant, 
smiling. “ Let him shout. It’s his pczan of triumph 
and praise. ” 

“Yes, herr,” said Valter, joyously; “they are 
both — the Herr Colonel and the young lady — bet- 
ter and gone into rest-giving ease and comfort- 
bestowing sleep.” 

“Thank God!” said Deane, turning away and 
meeting Aunt Ecclesia as she came to the door 
fanning her heated face. 

“ Oh, yes,” she said, “ both sleeping comfortably. 
Thank you and your friend so very, very much. 
My brother-in-law will thank you himself as soon 
as he is well. Tell your friend how grateful we 
are. ” 

“ No need, ma’am,” said Frant, quietly. “ I can 
hear what you say. Nothing to thank us for.-” 

“ But can we be of any further assistance?” said 
Deane. 

“Oh no: not now. Your attendant — that Swiss 
— said they ought to sleep ; and — and if you will 
excuse me now. ” 

Aunt Ecclesia seemed to have become confused, 
and she backed away into the house, while the 
young men exchanged glances. 

“ I suppose we had better go,” said Deane, dubi- 
ously. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


41 


“Yes. I suppose no other poor creatures have 
been hurt.” 

“Ah, here’s old Valter. Come on to the hotel, 
anyhow, and have a glass of Rothwein. No, hang 
it, you shall have one of champagne — eh, Deane?” 

“Yes, yes, of course,” said the latter, as he 
looked hard at the guide. “ You think they can 
be left, and without a doctor?” 

“What good to have a doctor, herr?” said the 
guide, smiling. “The Herr Colonel and the 
beautiful maiden could not breathe for the snow; 
now they can breathe again. They are not ill.” 

“What an escape!” 

“Yes, herr. They were swept down, and the 
snow was thin and open ; but we only got to them 
in time.” 

The three men had reached the chaos of rocks, 
snow and trees, about which a few more people 
had gathered ; but the spot was so secluded that 
there were not a dozen in all, and after Valter had 
recovered his rope and axe they stood gazing at 
the devastation around. 

“And all so beautiful only this morning!” said 
Deane, dreamily; and he glanced back toward the 
chalet. 

“Yes, made a pretty mess,” said Frant, refilling 
his pipe. “ I say, Valter, how is this to be cleared 
away?” 

“ Cleared away, herr?” said the guide, showing 
his white teeth. “The snow will melt; the rocks 
will be covered in time with moss ; and fresh trees 
will grow. That is all.” 


42 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Look here,” said Frant; “we want to go up 
there to-morrow and see where the fall began, ” 

“Good, herr,” said the guide, quietly; “we will 
go.” 

“And I say, Deane, old fellow: this may have 
uncovered your old mines.” 

Deane made no reply, but walked quietly on to- 
ward the little hotel, where they had been staying 
for the past month. 


CHAPTER V. 


“Feel ill? Of course I do. A man can’t be 
buried under tons of snow for hours without feel- 
ing ill.” 

“Papa! there was not much snow over us, and 
they say we were only there a few minutes.” 

“ Long enough, too. What’s this? I knew 
it They’ve floored me. Why, confound them! 
They contrived that snowfall to give them the 
opportunity. ” 

It was the day after the avalanche, and, very 
little the worse for the accident. Colonel Denton 
was seated in the parlor overlooking the snowy 
chaos below. He had suddenly grown excited, 
and was searching his pockets with despairing 
gestures. 

“ Have you lost something?” 

“ Lost? Yes. I am right — they contrived it so 
as to get an opportunity to rob me. They are on 
the way to Calais by now.” 

“ What is the matter?” cried Aunt Ecclesia, en- 
tering the room. 

” Those spies have robbed me and gone.” 

“ What spies?” 

“Those scoundrels who sent that snow down 
upon us there. I knew it — I foresaw it all. ” 

“ Papa, what are you talking about?” 

43 


44 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Those men from the hotel. They have been 
watching us for days.” 

“Papa! They are gentlemen.” 

“Yes, I know: private detectives. It is becom- 
ing an aristocratic pursuit now. Well, the police 
shall soon be on their track. Gone! I knew it.” 

“ But I saw them near the place an hour ago. ” 

“What do I say?” cried the Colonel. “You 
indorse my words. ” 

“Well, John, you are the most unreasonable 
man I ever knew,” cried Aunt Ecclesia. “Those 
gentlemen saved your lives; their man attended 
you better than a doctor; and now you say they 
robbed you.” 

Aunt Ecclesia’s face was unusually red, and she 
spoke excitedly — a novel thing in her — while her 
eyes were flashing as they encountered those of her 
niece, who also looked indignant and disturbed. 

“Well, madam, I have good reason for saying 
they robbed me — a pair of confounded spies!” 

“And that they brought down the avalanche!” 
cried Aunt Ecclesia. “ For shame ! Did they take 
your purse as well as your watch?” 

“Who said they took my purse and watch? I 
said my cigar case.” 

“Oh! I stole that, papa,” said Hester, merrily. 
“ It was in the coat sent out to be dried, and I put 
it in that closet.” 

The Colonel thrust it into his pocket with a sigh 
of satisfaction. 

“I wouldn’t have lost that for a fortune,” he 
said. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


45 


“ Oh ! Then I think you ought to apologize — 
eh, Hester.” 

“Certainly, aunt,” replied Hester, smiling. 

“Humph! Then I vShall not apologize; and — 
why, confound them ! They’ll never have the in- 
solence to come here!” 

He was looking fiercely through the window, 
and Hester made an effort to appear composed as 
Deane and Frant came up to the door. 

“Oh, yes! Show them in,” said the Colonel; 
“ but leave them to me, ” he continued, as the fresh- 
colored maid entered with the gentlemen’s cards 
and left the room again. “ They have delivered 
their assault, and I am ready. I like it better 
than being mined.” 

“Papa!” 

A look silenced Hester, and the next minute 
the two young men entered, Deane gazing anx- 
iously at Hester, and drawing a breath full of relief 
as he saw that she was quite recovered. 

“Good-morning,” said the Colonel, shortly. 
“ Very good of you to call, gentlemen. I ought 
to make you both a long speech to thank you for er 
— er — saving our lives.” 

“No,” said Deane quickly; “we only helped.. 
The credit is due to our guide.” 

“Indeed! Well, thank you for what you did, 
and if you will send him up I will give him a suit- 
able reward.” 

“Better not,” said Frant, shortly; “there’s a 
good deal of the gentleman in some of , these Swiss 
guides.” 


46 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Indeed!” said the Colonel, looking fiercely at 
the speaker, who returned the gaze not in the least 
abashed. 

“They are very simple, good-hearted fellows, 
sir,” interposed Deane, hastily; “and I honestly 
believe the man’s satisfaction at helping you out 
of so terrible a predicament will be sufficient re- 
ward.” 

“ Allow me to be the best judge about that, ” said 
the Colonel, shortly. “ Staying here long, gentle- 
men? Just came after I had taken this place, I 
think?” 

“ Oh, no,” replied Deane. “ I think we are older 
inhabitants by a week. ” 

“ Humph ! Like the country?” 

“Oh, yes. Delightful place for a holiday. We 
are making investigations. ” 

“Oh,” said the Colonel, giving a sharp glance 
at each in turn ; “ and may I ask, without imper- 
tinence, what your investigations may be?” 

“Certainly,” said Deane, frankly, and his eyes 
met Hester’s for a moment. 

“ I’ll tell you,” said Frant. 

“ No. Pray let the gentleman speak for himself. ” 

“The fact is, then,” said Deane, “the Romans 
used to cross the pass yonder from Northern Italy, 
and I find from old chronicles that there were 
mining settlements in this valley.” 

“Coal mining settlements?” said the Colonel, 
sarcastically. 

“ No; they worked a vein of gold, and I am try- 
ing to find out the spots. ” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


47 


“ Bah!” 

“I don’t say it is true,” said Deane, rather 
warmly, for the Colonel’s dictatorial manner net- 
tled him. “ I give you the tradition for what it is 
worth. I think it very likely, for gold is being 
mined now on the Italian side ” 

“What, sir? where?” 

“Off the Val Anzasca, I believe.” 

“ "Well, sir, have you found the old mines?” 

“ No. But it is a very interesting search, and 
gives piquancy to one’s stay in the mountains. 
The gold is there, or it is not. The probability 
is that it exists, for there is plenty of room for it. ” 

“ Little better than madness,” said the Colonel, 
in spite of a deprecating sign from his daughter. 
“ I never could see any wisdom in these ascents.” 

“ Oh, they please a fellow, and give him some- 
thing to do,” said Frant. 

“And I think it very brave,” added Aunt Eccle- 
sia, who colored as soon as she had spoken, and 
went on rapidly with her work. 

“ But there is really a great deal of interest in an 
ascent. Miss Denton,” said Deane, coming to the 
rescue; “and it calls’ for a good deal of patient 
endurance, besides giving health and strength.” 

“ Humph ! And so you came to Switzerland to 
hunt for gold,” said the Colonel. 

“ Yes, and it would do you good, sir, to join us.” 

“What!” said the Colonel; and Hester and her 
aunt looked terrified, while Deane gave his com- 
panion a look that was not seen. 

“I say it would do you good,” repeated Frant, 


48 


A SECRET QUEST. 


who in his stubborn manner and aspect resembled 
a Brittany bull. “ You’re only about fifty-five.” 

The Colonel ground his teeth this time, for as 
Frant’s words reached his temper, a gouty pain 
came in throbs and went through his agonized 
nerves. 

“You climb a great deal, do you not?” said 
Hester quickly, for she read the signs of the com- 
ing storm in her father’s countenance. 

“Oh, yes. I’m always out on the mountains.” 

“ May I ask who called me a great invalid?” 
said the Colonel with forced calmness. 

“ Oh, it was only a casual remark. Colonel, made 
at the hotel,” said Deane, hastily. “You old In- 
dian officers ” 

“ May I ask how you know that I am an old In- 
dian officer and a Colonel?” 

“Eh? Oh, I’m sure I don’t know how,” con- 
tinued Frant ; “ but, as I was saying, a simple regi- 
men, plenty of fresh air and exercise, and such a 
tramp as I could give you every day, would ” 

The explosion came, and Aleck Frant stared. 
In spite of an agonizing pain, the Colonel sprang 
to his feet and pointed to the door. 

“Papa! Pray — pray!” whispered Hester, as she 
darted to his side, and laid .her hand upon his 
breast ; but he only passed his arm round her and 
pointed still to the door. 

• “John, dear,” began Aunt Ecclesia. 

“Silence!” he roared. “And you, both of you, 
leave my house, and never dare enter it again. If 
it had not been for yesterday’s business, confound 


A SECRET QUEST. 


49 


it! I’d have said ten times more. Do you think 
I’m blind? Do you think I do not see through you 
both? But it will not do, all this blundering as- 
sumption of the tourist. Go back to England and 
tell them what I say. No, stop at Paris, gentle- 
men, and take a few lessons of the French 
mouchards. ” 

“ Colonel Denton, I beg ” began Deane. 

“No, no; enough. There’s the door. I tell you 
I am not blind. I was suspicious; now I am 
certain. Good-day, gentlemen. Go at once, or I 
am sure I shall lose my temper. ” 

“The old man’s mad as a March hare,” said 
Frant, as they strode down the path to the snow 
fall. 

“You blundering fool!” cried Deane, passion- 
ately. 

“ What — have you got it, too? What is it? Re- 
action from the accident yesterday?” 

“ Could you not see that you were touching on 
delicate* ground, upsetting the susceptibilities of 
an eccentric invalid?” 

“ Rubbish!” 

“ But why did you speak?” 

“ Because I did not want him to take us for a 
pair of noodles. Adam Deane, I was ashamed of 
you ! Sat there, you did, making eyes at the girl. 
Not a word to say for yourself. Why, you looked 
a regular milksop.” 

“Upset everything, you have,” cried Deane, 
without heeding him. “Suspects my object. 
Well, I suppose so. I don’t disown it. But for 
4 


50 


A SECRET QUEST. 


you to go and upset him like that! Here, let’s go 
back and apologize.” 

“What!” cried Frant, looking more like a bull 
than ever. “ Apologize for saving the old pepper- 
pot’s life, and then giving him a bit of good 
advice! Do I look like the sort of man that 
Would?” 

He certainly did not, but Deane did not say so, 
for he was thinking of Hester’s eyes — how appeal- 
ingly they had looked into his and how vain had 
been his efforts to stay his friend’s eloquence. 

“My dear John, you really are insufferable!” 
cried Aunt Ecclesia, who seemed to be unusually 
excited. 

“ Hold your tongue!” cried the Colonel. “Oh, 
this cursed pain! Well, what have you to say?” 

“Only that it is a pity, papa,” sighed Hester. 
“They behaved so bravely yesterday.” 

“Yes,” said the Colonel, wincing; “that’s the 
worst of it. But I believe,” he added, after bend- 
ing down to hold his leg, “ yes, I believe it was 
only to carry out their schemes. If I had been 
lost under that snow they couldn’t have got what 
they want, and if they didn’t get it they wouldn’t 
be paid.” 

“ Papa ! It is impossible they can be what you 
say.” 

“Of course they cannot, Hester, my dear,” said 
Aunt Ecclesia. 

“ Deal you know about it, madam. I’m right — 
I know I’m right. A pair of spies in Lord Des- 


• A SECRET QUEST. 5 1 

borough^s employ. By George! I wish I had 
brought a pistol with me. " 

“ Hush, John, dear, pray!” cried Aunt Ecclesia; 
“here is a gentleman coming up.” 

“Another of them?” cried the Colonel. “Well, 
I’m up now, and I’d face a dozen if it were neces- 
sary. Oh, my IdJ — my leg!” 

He stamped to the door, threw it open, and strode 
out — to face a well-dressed gentleman standing, 
stick in hand, on the veranda, while he swung 
an ivory-tubed field-glass by his left side. The 
new-comer started slightly, for the encounter had 
come upon him suddenly. 

“ I beg your pardon, ” he said, quickly. “ I ought 
to have known better ; but I thought this was a 
peasant’s chalet." 

“ Pardon granted, sir,” said the Colonel, shortly, 
as his eye took in the stranger’s appearance. “ It 
is a peasant’s chalet^ but my residence for the 
moment.” 

“My porter is behind with my portmanteau,” 
said the stranger. “ I was walking on. There is- 
a little hotel somewhere here, is there not?” 

“ Yes, a mile on up the valley, across that snow- 
fall.” 

“ I thank you. Good-day. But — may I ask for 
a glass of water — it is very hot.” 

“Of course,” said the Colonel, who had now 
grown calm as the shooting pains in his leg died 
out. “Come in. Ecclesia, my dear,” he shouted, 
“a glass or two, and the sherry.” 

“ No, no, I beg ” 


5 * 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ No apology, sir. If ever Englishmen ought to 
be hospitable it is when they meet abroad. ” 

“ Hetty, ” whispered Aunt Ecclesia ; “ it is that 
gentleman who used to stare at you down at 
Brighton. ” 

But Hester had already recognized him, and a 
sensation of dread which she could not master 
made her shrink toward the inner door. 

But she was too late. The Colonel was asking 
the visitor into the room. 

“My daughter — my sister-in-law. Mr. 1 beg 

your pardon?” 

“ Anderson,” said the visitor, quietly. “Law- 
rence Anderson, of Bedford Row. ” 


CHAPTER VI. 


“What! Does he know them?” said Deane, 
wonderingly, as he stood at the side of the little 
hotel with Frant and the guide. 

They were just about to start for a long climb 
in the gorge down which the avalanche had rushed, 
when Frant drew attention to a party coming along 
the path, and Deane had involuntarily drawn back 
to let them pass, hesitating about showing himself 
after the angry scene with the Colonel. The party 
consisted of the little family from the chalet, the 
ladies on mules, and the Colonel upon a stout cob, 
the animals being in charge of two guides. As 
they came nearer, Valter said, “ The English mili- 
tary herr says he shall not leave the chalet, for the 
snow has all come down from the gletscher, and 
there is nothing to fear.” 

“ How do you know he said that?” cried Deane. 

Valter’s handsome rustic face turned red as a 
blushing girl’s, and he said in a confused way: 

“I happened to be there last night — Gretchen 
told me. Ah, look, ” he added, hastily ; “ the beau- 
tiful maiden is riding Fritz’s mule, Beelzebub. 
He is a demon.” 

“Is he dangerous?” said Deane, anxiously, as he 
gazed through the trees at the little advancing 
party. 


53 


54 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Dangerous for the lady? Oh, no; but danger- 
ous to go near. He bites and kicks. He is a 
demon.” 

Just then the new visitor to the hotel — the quiet, 
keen-looking Englishman who had arrived on the 
previous evening — appeared, lighting his cigar in 
the broad veranda; and then, catching sight of 
the mounted party, hastily threw his Havana away 
and walked down toward the path, hat in hand. 

“ Seems like it, ” said Frant. “ Ah ! the old man 
is treating him more civilly than he did us.” 

For the Colonel seemed to receive the new-comer 
pleasantly enough as he checked his cob. The 
ladies entered into conversation, and Deane winced 
as he saw the stranger raise his hand to pat the 
great sleek mule upon which Hester was mounted. 
A grim smile crossed his face as the mule swung 
round his head and gave a vicious snap at the new- 
comer, making him leap back in alarm. There 
was a burst of conversation then, the new-comer 
drew back bowing, and the little party went on. 

“ They are going up the high path by the zig- 
zag,” said Valter, “to see down into the little thal 
where the snow fell.” 

“ But that’s taking* a leaf out of our book,” cried 
Frant. 

“No,” said the guide, smiling; “they keep to 
the mule path; we take to the mountain.” 

“Yes,” said Frant, “it would bother them to 
keep with us.” 

Just then Anderson came slowly toward them, 
smiling with satisfaction and lighting a fresh cigar. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


55 


“A fine morning, gentlemen. — Climbing?” 

“Yes,” said Deane, carelessly, “just fora few 
hours. Going on to the Rhone Valley?” 

“I? well, no; not at present. To a man seeking 
health this place seems inviting for a stay. You 
have had an accident, it seems, there wher^ i 
crossed the debris of the snowfall. The landlord 
tells me that a lady and gentleman were buried.” 

“Yes, a narrow escape,” said Deane. 

“No more risk — no more danger?” inquired An- 
derson. 

“Oh, I don’t know,” interposed Frant, dryly. 
“ Rather an avalanchy place.” 

“Well, I’ll risk it,” said Anderson, smiling; 
“ at all events, for a few days. And so you are 
going to climb?” he continued, looking curiously 
at their ice-axes and the guide’s rope. “ Are any 
of the ascents dangerous?” 

“ Tidy,” said Frant. “ Come and see.” 

“I? Oh, dear, no. Quite an invalid, my dear, 
sir. I’ll sit outside here and smoke and see you 
climb. I dare say I can follow you with my glass. ” 
Au revoir^ then,” cried Frant. 

*“1 hope not,” said Deane to himself, as he 
bowed and then made a sign to Valter to lead on. 

“ Staying here,” said Anderson, as he stood with 
his head a little bent, gazing at the departing 
climbers through his thick brows. “ Rather good- 
looking for neighbors ; but they don’t seem to know 
them. Hah! Things shape well. Fate is propi- 
tious. Right in the camp at once!” 

He paused, and looked at the glittering snow- 


A SECRET QUEST. 


56 

peaks through the thin blue cloud of smoke as- 
cending from his lips. 

“ Beautiful as ever,” he mused. “ How strange 
that at my time of life I should be so moved. 
Well, the passion was only waiting. It was there. 
Love — the business of the idle, the idleness of the 
busy. Let me be idle for awhile. Yes, and busy 
too. I wonder where he keeps those letters. At 
home! Not he. He has them with him in some 
pocket-book or belt. ” 

He threw himself into one of the wooden chairs 
out in the sunshine, and sat back to watch the 
route Deane and his companions had taken. 
“There they go,” he muttered. “Young fools 
engaged in their break-neck work. One of these 
days both of them will perhaps slip and drag down 
that sturdy guide — the whole party hurled by a 
false step to destruction. Well, serve the young 
idiots right. What business have they to be young 
and good-looking, and strong. Bah ! they are 
nothing to me. Let them live. They will not 
cross my path; they had better not. Hester — 
Hester Denton ; beautiful and heart-whole as yet. 
Well, the sweeter task to teach her to conjugate 
the verb ‘to love.’ But how? I must get the let- 
ters — I must win her. The old man is as fierce as 
a watch-dog, and I’ll be bound to say as suspicious 
— and as blundering. I must be careful. Pooh ! 
I can finesse this little affair when I have thought 
it out more.” 

He lay back, smoking and watching, as Deane 


A SECRET QUEST. 57 

and his companions appeared and disappeared, 
always rising. 

“It does not look high,” he continued, turning 
as he saw the three young men passing along a 
mere ledge of precipice; “but it is. If they had 
taken the same route as the Colonel, I should have 
followed. How long will it be before she returns? 
Shall I go after them? No, it would be unwise. 
I must play the retiring rdle of the invalid, and let 
the Colonel draw me out. Festina lente. Bah! 
what an execrable cigar. ” 


CHAPTER VIL 


Meanwhile, of course perfectly ignorant of the 
planning going on below, Deane was trudging 
vSlowly up the steep slope, last of the trio, thinking 
of the new-comer to the hotel, and not pleasantly, 
for the man seemed to repel him. 

Young men who have formed attachments, and . 
before they have fettered the lady with a promise, 
look upon every stranger who approaches I^a Belle 
as a possible rival. 

Deane dismissed the thought merrily, but it re- 
fused to be cast aside, coming back with the most 
extreme pertinacity — perhaps from the fact that 
Lawrence Anderson, down by the hotel, was think- 
ing of him. People laugh at these things, and 
call them accidental coincidences; but judging 
from the singular facts constantly brought to notice 
it seems as if one mind, irrespective of distance, 
does influence another. 

“Take care, herr, take care!” shouted Valter, 
reproachfully, for Deane was brought from the 
land of day-dreams back to the present by an ugly 
slip, consequent upon placing one foot where he 
ought never to have stepped.. 

“What’s the matter with the herr?” whispered 
Valter to Frant as they climbed higher. 

“Eh?” 


58 


A SECRET QUEST, 


59 


“ The herr. He always did go dreaming on 
about those old gold pits that we have not found ; 
but now he thinks of other things so much that I 
shall be afraid to guide without the rope. ” 

“ Got your complaint, Valter, my lad.” 

“ My complaint, herr — the aches from my old 
fall down the crevasse?” 

“No,” said Frant, with a peculiar look. 
“ Gretchen. ” 

The guide started as if he had been stung, and 
turned red as a school-boy. 

“What fools fellows are when they’ve got lady 
on the brain,” said Frant, beginning to whistle. 

A minute or two later Valter reached a perpen- 
dicular stone, threw up his ice-axe, clambered up, 
and then lay down on the top to extend his hand 
to help Frant. His face was bright and smiling 
now, and as he drew the young man up he whis- 
pered : 

“ I see, now, herr — the beautiful young lady at 
the chalet. ” 

“Hush,” said Frant, sternly; “a still tongue 
maketh a wise head. English proverb, man of 
muscles.” 

“ I think so, herr — yes, I do. ” 

“ Right. Come along, Adam, old man. Rather 
steep here: how am I to get up?” 

“ Give me your hand, herr, ” said the guide ; “ put 
your foot on that piece that stands out. Now.” 

He exerted his great strength as he spoke, and 
aided by the active efforts of the young English- 
man, landed him safely by his side. 


6o 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“There!” he cried the next minute, as he led 
the friends to the edge of a precipice, where the 
rock went down sheer for a couple of thousand feet ; 
“the herr can see now where the snow fell.” 

He pointed along the terrible chasm below, to 
where, piled up, slope beyond slope, lay the snow 
of ages glistening in its purity — patches miles 
across, looking like soft white cushions. They 
stood gazing at the magnificent spectacle before 
them, the point they had won being isolated so that 
it afforded a view of a perfect panorama of peak 
and ice-field, ridge and hollow, dazzling white in 
the clear sunshine, in shadow, of the most perfect 
blue. 

“Pity the poor beggar who can’t climb,” cried 
Frant, suddenly. “ Makes me feel as religious as 
a saint. ” 

“Glorious, glorious!” said Deane, softly; but 
this exultation passed away and a feeling of dis- 
appointment came over him because someone was 
not with him to share the wonders of that scene. 

“ I think your gold mines are down there, Adam, ” 
cried Frant, pointing to where the rocks had been 
swept bare by the passing of the avalanche. 

“Possibly. We’ll go down and see. How shall 
we go, Valter!” 

The guide was silent for a few minutes, and 
stood shading his eyes with his hand. Then, in a 
quick decisive way — 

“ Will the herr be careful?” 

“ Of course.” 

“Then we’ll go down yonder, cross the glet- 


A SECRET QUEST. 


6l 


scher, and after getting down to the thal, go round 
home by the mule path.” 

“But it will not be there,” said Deane, hastily, 
and looking to see if Frant was watching; but he 
was not, for he was pushing stones over the edge, 
to watch them go thundering down, leaping and 
bounding from rock to rock, striking fire some- 
times, and disappearing at last in the gloomy gorge. 

“ Yes, a good hour farther. We can easily reach 
it from there.” 

“ Go on, then.” 

The guide started at a good pace right along the 
edge of the gorge, till at the end of an hour he 
stopped again where they could gaze down a steep 
slope at one of those wonders of nature — a glacier 
— a frozen river, winding down between two slopes, 
and crossed and riven in all directions by crev- 
ices, down one of which a torrent rushed with a 
roar that sounded musical as it rose to where they 
stood, and reappearing a small distance from the 
end of the glacier, making its outlet through a 
cavern of celestial blue. 

“Shall we rope together?” said Deane. 

“ Not necessary, ” cried Frant. 

“ Better, herr,” said the guide, who was alread)^ 
uncoiling the stout cord, wound across his chest ; 
and as soon as this was secured from one to the 
other he set off, picking his way over the ice, zig- 
zagging among the cracks that were too wide to 
leap, till they reached at last the great crevice 
down which the snow water poured with a heavy 
metallic roar. 


62 


A SECRET QUEST, 


“Not too near, herr,” said Valter, as, attracted 
by the terrible place, Deane peered down through 
the transparent blue to where all was absolutely 
black. 

“Terrible!” said Deane, with a shudder. “Get 
that piece of ice loose and let it go down.” 

The guide nodded, the piece toppled over, and 
seemed to fall slowly down. 

For a space during which one might have 
counted forty there was nothing heard but the roar 
of the falling water; then came a dull echoing 
crash, followed by a sharp ringing sound and a 
repetition of the crash, fainter and fainter, till the 
sound died away in a whisper. 

“Here, come along, old fellow,” said Frant; 
and, mounting a spur of the ridge beyond them, 
Valter led them panting and breathless to where 
they could descend into the Schneethal and reach 
the mule path. 

It was a stiff descent, but there was plenty of 
foothold on the many stream beds, which scored 
the rocky sides ; and as the guide leaped at length 
on the path, closely followed by the two young 
men, he uttered a triumphant shout, which was 
answered from beyond a curve of the valley some 
fifty yards away. 

They were not long kept in doubt as to who had 
responded, for a hanger-on at the hotel, whom 
Deane recognized at once as one of the mule driv- 
ers who had accompanied the Colonel that morn- 
ing, suddenly appeared before them and shouted 
to them to come on. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


63 


“There has been some accident,” said Deane; 
and setting off at a sharp run, closely followed by 
his companions, he came the next minute upon 
the party he had seen set off just before they them- 
selves had started. 

Deane was about to check himself ; as far as he 
could see nothing was wrong. The Colonel, Aunt 
Ecclesia, and Hester were mounted on their re- 
spective steeds, the second guide holding Hester’s 
mule by the head ; but this animal suddenly uttered 
a doleful sound, half neigh, half bray, and began 
to struggle vigorously. 

The Colonel frowned as Deane stopped short. 

“ Is there anything the matter, sir?” he said, 
distantly; “do you want help?” 

“ My good sir, can you not see?” cried the Col- 
onel, testily. “ That mule has wedged its hoof in 
a crack of the rock, and we cannot get it free.” 

“ Had not the lady better dismount?” 

“No,” said the Colonel, fiercely. “At the first 
attempt the brute kicks and plunges frightfully, 
and we are on the edge of a precipice. ” 

“It is madness to let her stay where she is,” 
said Deane, firmly. “Excuse me, madam.” 

As he spoke, he stepped up to the side of the 
mule, took Hester by the waist, and lifted her off ; 
the girl, after a frightened glance at her father, 
letting herself drop into Deane’s arms. 

“How dare you!” roared the Colonel. Then 
changing his tone: “ Thank you, sir; you were 
quite right. The brute plunged furiously when 
it was tried before. There — you see. ” 


64 


A SECRET QUEST. 


The animal now threw out its heels viciously, 
snorting and squealing as it literally thrashed the 
air with savage kicks. 

“Son of Beelzpbub!” muttered Valter; “what a 
demon he is.” 

“Mind — mind!” cried the Colonel, catching 
Hester’s hand. “ The brute will scare the others. 
We shall be over the precipice directly.” 

The path was too wide for there to be any real 
danger; being guarded, too, on the side of the 
precipice by sturdy pine trees, which had somehow 
managed to strike root in the mountain side. 

“I thank you, sir — good-day,” said the Colonel, 
haughtily, as he raised his hat after dismounting. 

“ Don’t mention it, pray, ” replied Deane, coldly; 
and he turned away to examine the crevice in 
which the mule’s hoof was fast. 

“ Let me help you down, Ecclesia,” continued 
the Colonel. “ We must walk back.” 

“ Oh ! dear me, ” said the lady addressed, making 
a grimace. “Walk back? This terrible path.” 

“If you wait a few minutes, sir,” said Deane, 
quietly, “it may not be necessary. Let’s see,” 
said Deane, going down on one knee by the pin- 
ioned hoof — a liberty resented by the mule, which 
tried to kick with the near hind leg, failed, and 
made up for the failure by a vicious attempt to 
bite. 

“Quiet!” shouted Frant, and he gave the brute 
a rap on the nose with the handle of his ice-axe. 
Then he seized one end of the bit and held the 
animal’s head fast. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


65 


It was risky work ; but Deane seized the leg, 
and taking his geological hammer and chisel ^rom 
his pocket, he began to split off great flakes of the 
laminated rock, widening the crevice rapidly, with 
such good effect that at the end of a few minutes 
the mule dragged his hoof out with no more harm 
than a few scratches and a loosened shoe. 

“ Ach himmel ! ” ejaculated one of the men. “ The 
English are a wonderful race.” 

“Stop a moment,” said Deane, replacing his 
chisel, and lifting the mule’s hoof. “ Keep a tight 
hold of his head, you fellows,” and with a few 
smart taps he tightened the nails of the shoe, set 
the mule’s leg down, and drew back as the animal 
kicked, plunged, squealed, and then began to 
munch greedily at some grass on the side of the 
path. 

“There, sir,” said Deane, coldly; “you have no 
occasion to walk back. ” 

“ I thank you,” said the Colonel, raising his hat; 
“ but the brute is not fit for my daughter to mount. ” 

“But he is like a lamb now, herr,” cried the 
owner, plaintively ; “ he will not kick again. That 
was his joy at being free.” 

The Colonel hesitated, and looked at Deane in- 
quiringly, and against his will. 

“I think the man is right, sir,” said Deane. 
“Good-day;” and without trusting himself to look 
at Hester, he raised his hat and passed on with 
his companions. 

“Confound him!” muttered the Colonel, gnaw- 
ing at a bit of his gray mustache. 

5 


66 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ They might have offered to help us on to the 
things again,” said Aunt Ecclesia, pettishly. 

“ Nonsense! Here, Hester, my child, mount up 
on this piece of stone. Yes, that’s right,” he con- 
tinued, as the man led the mule alongside. “ You 
are not afraid to ride?” 

“Oh! no,” cried the girl, smiling. 

“There is no need to fear; he will go like a 
lamb now, herr.” 

And so it proved, the mule finding its way down 
the mountain path, and all going well save with 
the Colonel, who fidgeted his horse by tugging 
at the bit as he thought over the scene again. 

“ Confound him ! Behaved like a gentleman, 
after all. But no; I can’t be wrong. If I were 
sure, I’d go at once; but I don’t quite like to on 
suspicion. Oh, it’s all a trick. Too much of the 
mechanic to be a gentleman.” 

J ust then a thought struck the Colonel, and he 
behaved as men do who have something about 
them they wish to keep secret: his hand went in- 
voluntarily to his breast, as if he doubted. But 
he drew a long breath full of relief; and feeling 
free from pain, he chatted merrily with Hester 
about their adventure till they reached the little 
hotel where Anderson was still seated outside in 
the sun, Baedeker in hand, 


CHAPTER VIIL 


“ Really, Hester, my dear, I cannot understand 
your papa.” 

“You ought to by this time, aunt,” replied the 
girl, looking up ingenuously. “ You know how 
he suffers — what agony he is in sometimes. Of 
course, he does speak petulantly then.” 

“Petulantly? Oh, my dear child; if you call 
that petulance, what would it be if he were in a 
passion. Ah, there he is talking to that invalid 
gentleman about mineral waters and baths. Do 
you like this Mr. Anderson?” 

“No, aunt, not at all.” 

“ That’s right, my dear. Really, I quite detest 
him. He is too smooth and polite. I wonder at 
your father taking to him so. ” 

“Yes, I have been surprised,” said Hester, 
“seeing how averse he is to strangers.” 

“Well, I can tell you why. It is because he 
flattered your father by asking his advice about 
his health. There, they are coming in.” 

“ Didn’t you say you would like a walk, aunt?” 
said Hester, rather hastily. 

“Yes; but we cannot go now. It would look 
so rude, my dear.” 

“ Oh, no, aunt ; they will be talking together. 
Let’s go at once.” 

67 


68 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Fm quite willing, my dear; only let me get 
my pressing boards and the Alpenstock.” 

“They are here, aunt, dear. We can slip out 
through the window. ” 

Hester caught the little strapped -up boards, with 
their botanical paper inside; their hats were on 
the little table, and as Anderson and the Colonel 
came up to the door, they passed out of the window, 
stepping at once on to the mountain pathwa)^ and 
in among the trees, so that they were hidden from 
any one in the cottage. 

“Come in,” said the Colonel. “Here, Hester, 
my dear, I have brought you in a visitor. ’ Eh? 
not here! Upstairs, I suppose. You will take a 
cigar, Mr. Anderson?” he continued, as he drew 
out a handsome Russia-leather case. 

“Thanks; no, not in-doors. But you were say- 
ing that you have derived great benefit from the 
air in this place.” 

“Very great, I can assure you ; and — let me see, 
you have been here nearly a fortnight.” 

“Almost,” replied Anderson, smiling. “The 
time glides away very rapidly when one is upon a 
holiday excursion.” 

“Yes, I suppose so. I never take holidays, and 
never did. But you certainly are stronger and 
better than when you came. ” 

“ Do you think so?” 

“ Decidedly. Your walk is firmer, and I notice 
that you go farther. ” 

“Oh, I didn’t know.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 69 

“ I think I do. Where did you say you were 
going?’’ 

“ To Andermatt ; and from thence I shall make 
my way to the Engadine.” 

“Ah, yes! Very highly praised place; but I 
don’t think it is any better than this Schnee- 
thal.’’ 

“ I wonder whether we are alone,’’ thought An- 
derson, as he sat back and watched his host through 
half-closed eyes. “ The letters are in that pocket- 
book, for a wager. If we were quite alone, how 
easily one might give him a stunning blow and be 
off down the valley. But I am not quite sure 
about the notes in the pocket-book. Bah ! It is 
only his cigar-case. He must have an inner pocket 
somewhere. Perhaps sewed up in a belt. ’’ 

The Colonel walked to the door in happy igno- 
rance of the fact that he was being attentively 
watched, and called up the stairs — 

“ Hester! Ecclesia! are you coming down?’’ 

“The ladies have gone out to pick flowers, sir,’’ 
cried a maid. 

“Hah!’* ejaculated Anderson, as if relieved; 
and he wiped his dewy brow, for the temptation 
had been strong upon him, and he had not felt 
sanguine of success. But he felt annoyed; for it 
flashed across his mind that he had been asked in 
twice before, to find Hester absent. 

“ Surely it is not to avoid me,” he thought. 

“They are always collecting,” said the Colonel, 
peevishly. “ I cannot think what pleasure women 


A SECRET QUEST. 


70 

can find in picking and drying the wretched weeds 
they find about here.” 

“Still, if it affords them pleasure, it gives a 
zest to their walks. ” 

“Yes; but they are too fond of going out,” said 
the Colonel, crossing to the window and looking 
up the mountain side. “ Here, let’s go and see if 
we can find them.” 

“Certainly," replied Anderson, rising. “But 
really,” he continued, in a hesitating tone; “I — • 
perhaps you would prefer being alone.” 

“ If I did, sir, I should not have proposed our 
going together.” 

Anderson made a deprecating gesture. 

“ I beg your pardon. A little touch of my com- 
plaint ; it makes me speak irritably. Come along ; 
the fresh air may do us good. ” 

“Pray, do not apologize,” said Anderson, sigh- 
ing. “ I know too well what it is to be in pain. 
Why, my dear sir, that is one reason why I came 
out here. The irritation I have displayed has, I 
know, annoyed my friends, but not one hundredth 
part so much as it has vexed me.” 

“ Exactly; that is it,” cried the Colonel, hastily. 
“ I find myself speaking to my child and sister-in- 
law in a way that I am sure hurts their feelings. 
Then why do I speak so, you may say. I cannot 
help it. But come along; don’t let’s talk about 
our ailments on a day like this.” 

In the mean time, Hester had hurried her aunt 
along through the pine wood, and up and up till 
they reached the shelf-like path along the side of 


A SECRET QUEST. 


71 


the valley, and neared the spot where the acci- 
dent had befallen the mnle. Here Aunt Ecclesia 
plumped herself down upon a rock. 

“Not a step farther, my dear,” she said, pant- 
ing-, and wiping her scarlet face. “ The way you 
have raced me up here is terrible. Why, one 
would have thought that the geological gentleman 
from the hotel was pursuing you.” 

“Aunt, how absurd!” cried Hester, flushing 
more deeply than the occasion warranted. 

“Oh, I am not blind, my dear; and certainly I 
have seen him looking at you in a very particular 
way.” 

“If I thought what you say was true,” cried 
Hester, with spirit, “ I should beg papa to leave 
here at once. ” 

“ And if you did, my dear, what good would 
that do? Of course, he would follow us.” 

“Aunt!” cried Hester, with a stamp of the foot, 
and her eyes flashed. 

“ Gracious ! Why, child, you are getting as pas- 
sionate as your father. I only spoke the truth.” 

“ It is not the truth, aunt. It cannot, be the 
truth. We have hardly spoken to each other. I 
might — I might just as well say that I have seen 
that other gentleman looking particularly at you.” 

“Hester, my child! Oh, this is too shocking! 
Really, I must request that you never address me 
in such a way as that again.” 

Hester did not reply, but began culling the wild 
flowers that abounded up the slope, while her 
aunt took the other side of the path, where the 


72 


A SECRET QUEST. 


mountain descended gently for some distance, and 
then dropped sheer down to the valley, forming a 
clitf many hundred feet in height. 

“ Be careful, aunt dear ; the grass is rather slip- 
pery in places.” 

“Oh, yes. I’ll take care,” was the reply; and 
specimen after specimen was picked and laid be- 
tween the leaves. Aunt Ecclesia was tempted on 
and on, till a cluster of gentians just beyond a 
young pine caught her eye. 

“ I must have them,” she said to herself; “ they 
are the best I have seen.” 

The task of picking them was easy enough, and 
passing her arm round the pin-e, she stooped down, 
stretching out her right hand to reach them. But 
as she bent forward, she suddenly realized that she 
had descended right to the edge of the precipice, 
close where the water took its leap; and as she 
gazed over the flowers she sought, her eyes swept 
down to where, seven or eight hundred feet below, 
the chalets looked like so many wooden bee hives. 

She was in no danger. All she had to do was 
to quietly retrace her steps, passing between the 
pines till she reached the path, some fifty feet 
above her head. But the power to move was 
gone; her eyes dilated and grew fixed, and all she 
could do was to breathe hard and cling tightly to 
the pine trunk, listening all the while to the whis- 
per of the falling water. 

“It is drawing me down,” she whispered to 
herself; “it is drawing me down!” 

For Aunt Ecclesia’s nerve was gone. 


CHAPTER IX. 


“Aunt! aunt! where are you?” 

As she spoke she caught a glimpse of a white 
dress through the trees, and stepped off the path 
to descend. 

“Oh! aunt; is that not too near the edge?” she 
said, merrily. “Come back, madam. It is my 
turn to scold now.” 

As Hester spoke she descended slowly from 
pine to pine, and then stopped short as she came 
fully in sight of her aunt, clinging to the tree and 
staring with a peculiar fixed expression down into 
the valley. 

“Aunt, what is the matter? Come back from 
there.” 

But there was no reply. It was as if the figure 
before her were paralyzed, or suffering from some 
terrible attack of nightmare, so motionless and 
fixed did it seem. 

For a few moments the strange nervous affec- 
tion seemed to have attacked Hester; but she 
mastered it, and, fully realizing the danger, now 
began to descend cautiously toward where the 
paralyzed woman clung. But she had not gone 
many yards before a voice from above roared 
“Stop!” and Deane and Frant came hurrying 
down from where they had been perched, some 
eighty or a hundred yards away. 

73 


74 


A SECRET QUEST. 


Hester obeyed the call to stop, and looked back 
in a frightened way from where she stood on the 
steep grassy slope down which Deane rapidly 
came. 

“You don’t know how dangerous this place is,” 
he cried. “ Pray come back.” 

For answer Hester pointed to her aunt. 

“ Good heavens!” exclaimed Deane; “she must 
be mad!” and seizing Hester’s wrist he pressed 
her toward a tree. “ Hold that,” he cried, “till I 
come back. ” 

“Take her up, man, yourself,” said Frant, who 
brushed by him, and the pair stood watching ex- 
citedly as the sturdy little fellow descended to 
where Aunt Ecclesia clung to the pine. 

The spell was broken as Frant caught her arm 
and drew her back. She closed her eyes, uttered 
a sob, and her legs gave way beneath her. 

“No, no,” said Frant, roughly, “don’t faint.” 
There was no reply, the frightened woman being 
for the moment utterly helpless. “Look here,” 
continued Frant, “ put your arm round my neck 
and hold tight; I’ll carry you back to the path.” 

Aunt Ecclesia uttered another low sigh, shiv- 
ered, and then obeyed, Frant taking tight hold of 
the pine with his right hand and lifting the lady 
by passing his left arm round her waist. 

“Steady a moment, herr,” cried Valter. “I’m 
coming down.” 

“No need,” said Frant, and drawing a long 
breath, he loosened his hold of the pine and 
climbed back steadily with his load to where Hes- 


A SECRET QUEST. 75 

ter and Deane stood, the former half hysterical 
with emotion. 

“ One minute’s rest, ” said Frant, quietly. “ Hold 
tight, please, ma’am. Now, then, all together.” 

The rest of the way was climbed, and the group 
had just gathered upon the mule-path, where 
Aunt Ecclesia had burst into a passionate flood of 
tears, when the Colonel and Anderson appeared 
on the scene, the former starting angrily and in- 
creasing his pace, while Anderson followed, frown- 
ing heavily. 

“What is the meaning of all this?** cried the 
Colonel, fiercely. “ Was this planned in advance?” 

“ The ladies are ignorant of the dangers of these 
mountains, sir,” said Deane, coldly. 

“Oh, thank you,” sobbed out Aunt Ecclesia, 
extending her hand. “ You have saved my life. ” 

“Oh, nonsense!” said Frant, bluffly. “But I 
wouldn’t go down like that again. Good-day.” 

He nodded to the Colonel, and followed Deane, 
saying, “ Come on, old fellow, I want to finish my 
pipe.” 

“Here,” said the Colonel, making a sign to 
Valter; “come on and see me to-night; I want a 
few words with you.” 

Valter touched his hat and walked away after 
his employers. 

“ I shall not go,” he said to himself. “ I don’t 
want to be paid for getting them out of the snow. 
How can he be the father of such a maiden as 
that? No! I will not go. Yes, I will,” he added, 
after a pause; “ Gretchen is there.” 


CHAPTER X. 


That same evening-, Colonel Denton walked up 
to the hotel where Anderson was seated in the 
veranda, sipping his coffee. Deane and Frant 
were perched upon a mass of rock, watching the 
Alpenglow on the snowy peaks. 

Anderson rose as the Colonel passed him with a 
short nod, and then subsided in his chair. 

“Have I offended him?" he wondered. 

But surprise changed to annoyance as he saw 
the Colonel continue his way toward the group on 
the rocks. Deane and Frant saw the old officer’s 
approach with surprise, and the latter whispered : 
“ We’re in for it, Adam. Old man’s going to 
challenge us for daring to meddle with his house- 
hold.’’ 

“Be quiet; he’ll hear,” said Deane, uneasily. 

“Good-evening, gentlemen,” said the Colonel, 
shortly. “ Ahem. That is the Alpen glow, is it 
not?” 

“Yes,” replied Deane, gravely; “you wished 
to speak to me?” 

“ Yes, thank you. That is precise and military, 
sir. I do want to speak to you, but the matter is 
a delicate one, and out of my way. I did not 
know how to begin.” 

“ I cannot offer you a seat,” said Deane. 

76 


A SECRET QUEST. 


77 


“ Eh — no — of course not,” said the Colonel, tak- 
ing out his cigar case. “ Excuse me, gentlemen, 
but you smoke frightful tobacco ; will you take a 
cigar?” 

“Thanks, no,” said Deane, quietly; “I prefer 
my pipe. ” 

“And the frightful tobacco,” added Frant. 

“As you will, gentlemen,” said the Colonel, un- 
easily. He lit his own cigar and smoked in si- 
lence for a few minutes, gazing at the wondrous 
crimson tints upon the mountains. 

“Yes,” he said at last, “glorious.” 

“You wished to speak to me, sir, I think you 
said.” 

“Well, yes,” said the Colonel, “ I do. The fact 
is, gentlemen, I have to ask your pardon.” 

“ It is not necessary, sir. ” 

“I differ from you, sir. It is. You and your 
friend have done me and mine two or three very 
excellent services, and I am afraid I have met 
them with a good deal of ingratitude.” 

“ Colonel Denton is at liberty to select his own 
acquaintances,” said Deane, coldly; and his dis- 
tant manner seemed to please the Colonel, who 
exclaimed, quickly: 

“ Gentlemen, I apologize for my rudeness, and 
I am greatly obliged for all that you have done.” 

“Oh!” said Frant, “that’s it. Very well then. 
I’ll take one of those cigars.” 

The Colonel frowned, then smiled as he held 
out his case. 

“Would you mind telling me your name again?” 


78 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Frant.” 

“ And you are the son of " 

“Admiral Frant, R. N.” 

“ And yours, sir?” continued the Colonel. “ Far 
be it from me to act churlishly toward my fellow- 
countrymen ; but, frankly — the fact is, I have been 
sadly pestered of late by spies.” 

“Old man has a crack,” said Frant to himself. 

“Indeed!” said Deane, more genially. “lam 
afraid my father thinks me an unworthy son, as 
I did not select the army for a profession ; but I 
have not disgraced him by being a spy.” 

“Was your father in the army, sir?” said the 
Colonel, eagerly. 

“ My father. General Deane, is in the army, 
sir.” 

“General Deane is in India,” said the Colonel, 
sharply. 

“ He was at Calcutta a month ago,” said Deane, 
quietly. 

“My dear Mr. Deane, I beg your pardon, ’’cried 
the Colonel, shaking hands warmly, happily un- 
conscious of the fact that Anderson was watch- 
ing them through his overhanging brows. “ The 
fact is, gentlemen, I have been under a great 
misapprehension. Circumstances have made me 
suspicious, and — there, as a gentleman, I ask you 
to forgive me. ” 

“There is no need to say another word, sir,” 
said Deane, whose face lit up. “ I must confess 
that I was puzzled.” 

“Puzzled, sir! I behaved like a boor.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


79 


“I think I will follow my" friend’s example, 
sir,” said Deane, smiling: “I will take one of 
yonr cigars. ” 

“Many a one, I hope,” cried the Colonel, 
eagerly, handing his case. “ Take one, too, my 
lad,” he continued, passing the case in turn to the 
guide, who smiled, took one of the rolls of to- 
bacco, and raised his hat. 

“You are a connoisseur in cigars, I see,” said 
Deane. 

“Ah! you appreciate a good one,” said the Col- 
onel, watching Deane narrowly. “ By the way, 
we generally have coffee about this time; will 
you walk with me to the cottage, and join us?” 

Deane hesitated and glanced at Frant. 

“ Of course we will, ” said Frant, rising. “ Come 
along, Adam. We look disreputable enough, in 
our rough tweeds and greased boots, to be ” 

“Not swell mobsmen,” said Deane, smiling. 

“No,” said Frant, dryly; “ spies— detectives in 
very plain clothes indeed. I say, sir, you asked a 
pretty blunt question; it’s our turn now. Pray, 
what have you been doing to have detectives hunt- 
ing you?” 

“ Humph ! You’re a plain-spoken young gentle- 
man,” said the Colonel, stiffly. 

“ I am, ” said Frant. “ My father is a sailor, and 
more plain-spoken still.” 

“Well, I don’t like you any the worse for it; 
but I can’t answer your question. Let me tell 
you, however, that it was nothing unworthy of an 
pflficer and a gentleman.” 


8o 


A SECRET QUEST, 


“I am sure of that, sir,” cried Deane, warmly. 
“ I apologize for my friend’s words.” 

“There is no need, Mr. Deane,” said the old 
officer, with stately courtesy, and there was some- 
thing very winning about his stern countenance. 
“ But come along, and we will finish our cigars in 
the little veranda. Hah!” he continued, taking 
a long breath as they passed the little hotel where 
Anderson was seated with his coffee and book; 
“this is a delicious country, is it not? One mo- 
ment — our guide. Oh, I see, he is follow'ing us. 
I was about to ask him to go into the hotel and 
have some wine.” 

“He’s all right, sir,” said Frant, dryly; “you 
need not trouble about him.” 

It was quite true. Valter was following at a 
distance, with his mental gaze upon the kitchen 
at the chalet; but he started and looked round 
sharply, for in a low, suppressed whisper, some 
one uttered an oath full of malignant passion. 
But Valter did not see who it was, for the invalid 
visitor who had lately come to the hotel was bend- 
ing over his book, the print of which was small, 
and the light was beginning to fail in the valley; 
but there was light in more than one heart, as, 
talking loudly, the Colonel walked slowly on with 
his companions toward the chalet, pausing a while 
as they reached the debris of the avalanche. 

“ Yes,” said the Colonel, “ that fall, and the un- 
pleasant suspicions I had, made me think of 
changing my camp; but we are quite safe where 
we are, and I dare say I shall stay here for 


A SECRET QUEST. 


8l 


months. Ah, Hester, my dear — Ecclesia — our 
friends here have come for a cup of coffee.” 

The Alpenglow seemed to be lingering still on 
Hester’s sweet, fair face; and there was a vestige, 
too, on Aunt Ecclesia ’s cheeks. Perhaps there 
was more shadow in the hotel veranda, for there 
Lawrence Anderson’s countenance was ghastly 
pale as he said to himself: “Yes, it’s deeper than 
I thought; but nothing shall stay me there.” 

6 


CHAPTER XI. 


“ Going to give up the hunt for the old gold 
mine now ?” said Frant the next morning. 

“Give up,” cried Deane; “no, why should I?” 

“ Thought you were going to turn lap-dog, per- 
haps. I say, old fellow, you’ll have the old man 
asking your intentions before long.” 

“ My dear Aleck, 5^ou had better give up chaff- 
ing. Your wit is as blunt as the point of my al- 
penstock. ” 

“Possibly,” said Frant; “my appetite is not — 
pass that honey. ” 

“Where are we going this morning?” said 
Deane, hurriedly, to change the conversation. 

“ Where you like, old fellow ; but I thought you 
would like to be off to the chalet directly after you 
had made so bad a breakfast. ” 

“ I shall go to the chalet again when I am asked. 
What do you say to crossing the glacier and hav- 
ing a look over the other side of the ridge?” 

“The very thing. There’ll be a nice bit of a 
climb first. ” 

“ I have an idea that the old workings lie some- 
where over in that direction.” 

“Very likely. I wish they would make coffee 
like this at home. Hullo: here’s the invalid.” 

“ Good-morning, gentlemen,” said Anderson, en- 
82 


A SECRET QUEST. 83 

tering- the veranda where the young men were 
breakfasting. “ You begin meals early.” 

“Want ’em in this fresh air.” 

“Yes, it is wonderful; my appetite is not like 
the same since I have been here.” 

He took his seat at the next table, looking long- 
ingly toward theirs. 

“Plenty of room here,” said Frant with his 
mouth full. 

“ Thank you, if I should not be incommoding 
you,” said Anderson, looking at Deane to indorse 
his friend’s invitation. “ It is dull for an in- 
valid.” 

“Not at all,” said Deane, quietly. “Have you 
been ill long?” 

“ During the past year,” said Anderson, seating 
himself. “ Over- work. My physician said I 
should be all right if I gave up everything and 
had a good, brain rest, and exercised my limbs 
well in the mountains. Thanks, yes,” he con- 
tinued to the maid who attended; “coffee and 
fish.” 

“Nothing like climbing to put a fellow right,” 
said Frant. 

“Ah, yes, I should like to,” said Anderson, 
commencing his breakfast and looking timidly 
from one to the other. 

The meal went on in silence for a few minutes. 

“ Should I be rude if I asked in which direction 
you make your excursion this morning?” 

“By no means,” replied Deane; while Frant 
made so peculiar a grimace — with his face averted 


84 


A SECRET QUEST. 


from the table — that the maid stared at him opeii- 
mouthed; then, catching his eye, she turned, scar- 
let, and rushed into the salle-a-manger. 

“We were thinking of going up the narrow rift 
you see yonder beyond the pines ; then over a ridge 
to the valley that runs into this at right angles, 
and crossing the glacier. ’’ 

“ Indeed?” 

“ Then we ascend this ridge, and go down into 
a gorge on the other side.” 

“ Ah ! then there is a large glacier so near?” 

“Thumper!” said Frant, “with some rattling 
great crevasses and a good fall as well.” 

“How interesting,” said Anderson, sitting bal- 
ancing the spoon on the edge of his coffee cup. 
“ But it requires a trained mountaineer to climb to 
such an elevation as that?” 

“Oh no,” replied Deane. “You could easily 
do it if you took time. ” 

“ Because I was thinking I might try and go 
part of the way, and see you as you came back.” 

“Oh, we’ll see you up to the glacier,” said 
Deane, good-humoredly. “If you took a sand- 
wich with you, there would be plenty to interest 
you while we crossed, and we’d come back the 
same way and pick you up. Eh, Aleck?” 

“All right. I’m open to anything, so long as it’s 
a climb.” 

“ A climb? Yes, ” said Anderson ; “ but surely I 
should be giving you too much trouble. I am 
such a bad walker. ” 

“ Make yourself a better one. Our guide shall 


A SECRET QUEST. 85 

help you over the rough bits. It will be easier 
coming back. ” 

“ But, really — if you think I should not incom- 
mode you!’* 

“ Not a bit. Pray come.” 

“ Really, I cannot find words to express my 
gratitude. ” 

“Don’t try,” said Frant, bluntly. “ Save your 
wind; you’ll want it all going up there.” 

“ Then, if you will not mind, I think I will avail 
myself of your kindness ; but only on one condi- 
tion.” 

“ And what is that?” said Frant. 

“ That if my company proves irksome, or hinders 
you, I am to be left behind. ” 

“Agreed,” said Deane. 

“Yet another stipulation, gentlemen.” 

“ We’re making big bones of a very small mat- 
ter,” said Frant, taking out his pipe. 

“ I stipulate that you shall be my guests this 
evening at dinner. ” 

“Oh, nonsense!” said Frant. 

“ But ” 

“ And Mr. Anderson will pay us the same com- 
pliment to-morrow.” 

“With the greatest pleasure,” cried their com- 
panion. “ How soon do you start?” 

“As soon as you have finished breakfast and 
ordered your sandwich,” replied Deane. “Get 
your flask filled, too. ” 

“ Yes, of course. I will not be long. I ought 
to wear thick boots, ought I not?” 


86 


A SECRET QUEST, 


“ Well, if you went out in those patent leather 
things you’d come back barefoot,” said Frant, 
laughing. “ Put on the stoutest pair you have, 
and bring an alpenstock.” 

Anderson nodded and went into the house, while 
Frant turned to his companion. “ Look here, old 
chap. I’m such a good young man that I can’t 
swear — I mean I won’t; but this is too bad. I’d 
rather give a fiver than have that chap with us. 
I don’t like him.” 

“ Well, really, Aleck,” said Deane, thoughtfully, 
“ I don’t think I do.” 

“ And yet you’ve done the civil to him. I don’t 
like his eyes; there’s a shiftiness about them that 
isn’t nice.” 

“Nonsense, man, prejudice!” 

“Oh, no, it isn’t. My father always said that I 
was more like a bulldog than a boy ; and I believe 
he was right, for I feel as if I want to sniff round 
that chap, and the more I sniffed the less I should 
like him. Hush, here he is. ” 

Anderson re-entered the veranda, looking very 
eager and pale with excitement, to announce that 
he would not be five minutes, and disappeared 
again. 

“No; I’m sure I don’t like him.” 

“Ah, well,” said Deane, who felt in the humor 
to be friendly with all the world, “ you need not 
like him. We can be civil to the poor fellow as 
he is so lonely. ” 

“ All right, and if he becomes much of a bore 
we can take him up some tough bits and soon 


A SECRET QUEST. . 87 

sicken him of wanting to come with us — walk him 
off his legs, eh?” 

Deane laughed, and shouted to Valter that they 
were ready to start. Then walking carelessly out 
of the veranda he began to ascend the slope at 
the back. 

“ Gone to look whether he can see the goddeSfe 
at the chalet window,” muttered Frant. “Poor 
old man ! he’s gone there. Wonder whether the 
old man will stand it. Hallo! you there?” Frant 
started, for Anderson had returned quietly and 
was standing at his elbow, accoutred for the climb. 

“Yes, I am quite ready now. Where is your 
friend?” 

“ Up yonder,” and he indicated the spot where 
Deane stood. “ Confound him,” he added to him- 
self; “-why did he steal upon me like that?” 

Anderson’s face was like marble, but there was 
a peculiar look in his eyes which Frant did not see. 
If he had seen it he would have liked his new 
friend less. 

“ He has gone up there,” thought Anderson, as 
if inspired by Frant’s own thoughts, “ to see if she 
is at the window. ” 


i 


CHAPTER XII. 


“ Why, you’re not half a bad hand as a climber," 
said Frant, a couple of hours later, as they stood 
beside the dirty gray water which came roaring 
from a low arched ice grotto at the foot of the 
glacier. 

“ It is not so difficult as I thought it would 
be." 

“We brought you farther round, and up the lit- 
tle side valley," said Deane, smiling. 

“ I see. And then there is the air. It is so 
crisp and invigorating. " 

“To be sure it is," cried Frant. “Why, in six 
months I could make you as strong here as Valter. " 

Anderson sighed and shook his head as he be- 
gan to inspect the low grotto from which the water 
roared, peering in to a soft bluish twilight which 
grew darker into purple and then black. 

“ What an awful-looking place, " he said. “ From 
where does all this water come?" 

“ Up above, miles away," said Frant, amused by 
his curiosity. “ Melting of the snow and ice from 
the mountains. " 

“ Where are we going now?" 

“ To climb up the side of the gorge here, and 
get on the glacier," replied Deane, pointing up to 
the right. “We shall leave you yonder, on that 
88 


A SECRET QUEST. 


89 


sunny slope, where you will be able to see the 
great glacier at your feet. You will have enough 
to look at till we return.” 

“ Is there any danger?” 

“Not the slightest, unless you wilfully walk 
into it. Now Valter, vorwarts!” 

The guide led the way to where the glacier 
touched the side of the gorge. And so • they 
climbed on over the rocks, alternating their course 
by taking at times to the glacier, which descended 
for miles like a vast frozen waterfall whose foam 
and waves had suddenly congealed. Every now 
and then they were stopped by a huge crack, where 
the ice had split across. These crevasses had a 
strange fascination for Anderson, who peered down 
into their blue depths and listened to the whis- 
pering gurgle of the water that trickled down from 
the surface melted with the heat of the sun. It 
was the prevalence of these great rifts which forced 
the party to take to the rocks at the side from time 
to time; but as soon as the crevasse was passed 
they dropped on to the ice again ; for with all its 
ruggedness, it was easier going than the precipi- 
tous side of the gorge. 

For quite two hours they climbed on, up and up, 
very slowly, Anderson pausing from time to time 
r to express his delight at the wonderful tints of the 
ice. Ever and again they threaded their way in 
and out among blocks, crags, and pinnacles which 
had fallen from above, and some of which were so 
lightly poised that Valter urged caution, and spoke 
in whispers. 


90 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Is he not making a needless fuss?'’ said Ander- 
son. “ Surely there is no danger. ” 

Almost as he spoke there was a terrific crash — 
a splintering, rending sound — and hundreds of tons 
of ice-crag went gliding down some hundred yards 
or so to their left. 

“ Bit dangerous that, ” said Frant, dryly. 

“Never try that side of the gletscher, gentle- 
men,” said Valter, quietly. “The ice is always 
rotten there.” 

Anderson said nothing, but toiled on, perspiring 
profusely, till at last they came to where the ice 
towered up, rugged and splintered, thawed by 
many mid-day suns into jagged forms ready to 
topple down at a touch. Here Valter pointed to 
the rock at the side. 

“Here is your stiffest bit of climbing,” said 
Deane. “Valter and I will go up first, and lower 
down the rope for you to have fastened round your 
waist. We’ll pull you up if you do not care to 
venture and climb. ” 

“Let me see you go up first,” said Anderson, 
quietly. 

“Look here, you know,” said Frant, “perhaps 
you’ve had enough of it; would you like to go 
back now?” 

“ Oh, no. Let me see you climb.” 

Valter attained the rugged slope, and went 
easily up, seizing the different projections, and 
mounting about sixty feet, to where the rock was 
split into a broad opening forming a gully, easy 
of ascent. Deane was after him directly, but he 


A SECRET QUEST. 


91 


used his ice-axe as a hook, inserting the pointed 
end of the head in horizontal crevices and easily 
joining the guide. 

“Wait a minute," he said; “we’ll send down 
the end of the rope.” 

“There is no necessity, I think, "said Anderson; 
and without hesitation he began to climb, varying 
a little from Deane’s course, and taking more time, 
but reaching the others in safety, and not realizing 
till he was by them that Frant had followed close 
behind. 

“Only going to spread-eagle you if you had lost 
your nerve,” he said, laughing. “ I say, that’s not 
so very bad for an invalid. Why, you’ll be ready 
to do one of the peaks directly.” 

“Oh, perhaps with practice I might in time,” 
said Anderson, hastily. “ By the way, are you 
going to climb one of the important mountains?” 

“Done the lot,” said Frant, coolly: “Jung- 
frau, Wetterhorn, Eiger, Mbnch, Mischebelhorn, 
Weisshorn, Rosa, Matterhorn, and most of the 
little ones about here. Try ’em again if you’re 
on.” 

Anderson shook his head and set his teeth, for 
the climb was stiff now ; but it was only over a 
huge buttress which jutted out over the chaos of 
ice-masses below, and as they carefully descended 
on the other side it was to where the glacier wound 
round comparatively smoothly, and a deep roar 
came to their ears. 

“Are you going down on the ice again?” asked 
Anderson. 


92 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Yes; to show you the great crevasse yonder 
where there is a moulin.” 

“A moulin — a mill?” 

“ They call it so where a big stream of water 
passes down. It is one of the streams which helps 
to make the torrent you saw coming out of the ice 
cavern at the foot of the glacier. ” 

The lawyer nodded at Deane. 

“ Yes,” he said, “ I should like to see that.”* 

A quarter of a mile upward along the glacier, 
and they were at the edge of the terrific crack 
which the friends had examined the day after the 
avalanche, and as they approached, Anderson in- 
voluntarily shrank back and listened, awe-stricken, 
to the deep musical roar of the falling water. 

“ Take my hand,” said Deane, smilingly. “ You 
will soon master that shrinking. Mind where you 
place your feet. It is worth seeing. ” 

Anderson set his teeth, declined the proffered 
hand, and advanced slowly to the very edge. Frant 
gave a sharp glance, and the guide nodded and 
crept closer, thrusting his ice-axe behind in his 
belt, so as to have his hands at liberty, and stood 
watchfully near while Anderson gazed down into 
the awful chasm whose sides were of a deep blue 
where the spray of the falling water did not hide 
them as in a mist. 

“Where does this water come from?” asked 
Anderson, after a few minutes, in a husky voice. 

Deane pointed to a gully in the mountain-side a 
hundred yards away. 

“ I see. Is this crevasse deep?” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


93 


“ Hundreds of feet, eh, Valter?” 

“ More than five,” was the reply. “ Right down 
through the ice to the rock.” 

“ Now then,” said Deane, “we propose that you 
climb up that sunny slope, and you can rest or 
have a nap if you like.” 

“There are no wild beasts — no bears,” said An- 
derson. 

“By George, no!” cried Frant; “I only wish 
there were.” 

“ There’s nothing whatever to fear, ” said Deane. 
“You will rest there while we cross the glacier, 
and go over the ridge on the other side to descend 
into a deep valley there.” 

“Gold hunting!” said Frant, merrily. “And 
look here, sir. You see that point with the ice on 
it? — that sharp pyramid?” 

“ Yes.” 

“Well, in two hours’ time I’m going to wave 
my hat to you from there. Valter and I mean to 
go on while friend Deane here grubs after Roman 
remains. Won’t come, I suppose.” 

“I? Not this time,” replied Anderson. “I 
must confess to feeling tired. But you will return 
to me. I fear that I should be in difficulties if I 
went back alone.” 

“My word’s my bond,” said Frant, quietly. 
“ Now then, have you got your sandwiches, flask, 
cigars and matches?” 

“Yes; all safe.” 

“Then off you go; and don’t come too close to 
this crevasse while we are away;” and they went 


94 


A SECRET QUEST. 


off along the lower lip of the crevasse, while 
Anderson slowly climbed the side of the gorge 
through which the frozen river ran. In half an 
hour the two young men and the guide had 
crossed the glacier and mounted rapidly to the 
ridge above it, whence they looked back to see 
Anderson snugly ensconced in a nook, full in the 
bright sunshine. 

“Eating his lunch,” said Frant, and they went 
on and began to descend into the deep gorge which 
had attracted Deane before. 

“Take care of yourself, old man,” cried Frant, 
as they reached a gully up which he and Valter 
were to climb to the peak. 

“ Never fear," was the reply. 

“ Mind the kobolds and goblins who guard the 
gold, and don’t go mad if you find too much.” 

“I’ll take care,” said Deane, who was thinking 
of the glint of gold in Hester’s luxuriant hair. 

“Better get back to him as soon as you’ve had 
your squint round, and we’ll drop down on to the 
glacier higher up. Save time.” 

“Very well,” replied Deane, and they parted — 
he to go down a tremendous slope where all was 
black and bare; Frant and the guide to ascend 
higher and higher till, within five minutes of the 
time foretold, he stuck his hat on the top of his 
ice-axe, and waved it from the snow on the peak. 

“ See him, Valter?” 

“Yes, herr; he is waving his handkerchief. 
No, it is the sun shining on a patch of slate. I 
cannot see him.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 95 

“ Never mind," said Frant, looking at his watch. 
“We did it. Come on down.” 

They plunged at once into a deep gully, which 
led them at last by many a zig-zag to where the 
tiny stream at the bottom flowed on the glacier 
far above the gully; crossing this they climbed 
along the side of the gorge, and in four hours from 
setting out reached Anderson, stretched out on a 
patch of heather apparently fast asleep. 

“ Yo-ho-ho-ho!” shouted Frant; and Anderson 
started up as if alarmed. “ Back again, you see. 
Where’s Deane?” 

“ Deane? Your friend? I have not seen him. 
Is he not with you?” 

Frant glanced sharply at Valter, who responded 
with a peculiarly wild look in his dark eyes. 

“Something has happened, herr,” he said. 
“ Back at once. ” 


CHAPTER XIIL 


“Happened?” cried Anderson, excitedly; “you 
don’t think ” 

He did not finish his sentence, but stared at 
Frant. 

“No, I don’t think,” said the latter, peevishly, 
“I try to act,” and he started off down the slope 
once more to reach the glacier. 

“Shall I come with you?” cried Anderson after 
them. 

“No,” shouted back Frant; “we can go twice 
as fast without you. Stay there. We may come 
back by another way.” 

Anderson drew his breath between his teeth 
with a hissing sound. Taking a step or two along 
the slope to where he could rest one hand upon a 
rugged stone, he shaded his eyes with the other, 
and leaned forward, gazing eagerly over the great 
frozen river that swept by him, and searching the 
piled-up masses, his eyes noting the pitfall-like 
cracks and chasm in the ice — slippery portals to 
the great unknown land. 

There was a strange expression on the man’s 
thin, keen face. It was not anxiety, but a pecul- 
iar look of eagerness and joy. For an obstacle of 
great power had sprung up in his path ; difficulties 
96 


A SECRET QUEST. 


97 


had risen that had seemed insurmountable, and he 
had even begun to make plans for ridding himself 
of them ; when now it was as if fate was playing 
into his hand. 

“ It is too good to believe,” he said with a cyn- 
ical smile. “ But why not? These venturesome 
fools come to grief sooner or later. Why not 
sooner — now?” 

He leaned back against the rock in the glowing 
sunshine and closed his eyes. Not to shut out a 
terrible picture of one who had left him, some 
three or four hours before, full of youthful life and 
strength, now perhaps lying broken and disfig- 
ured at the bottom of a precipice ; but to keep in 
the vision that rose up before him of Hester Den- 
ton, bright in her girlish grace — the woman who 
had first stirred the pulses of the middle-aged man 
whose existence had been one long fostering of 
ambition. 

“Yes, why not?” he said, aloud; and at last he 
opened his eyes again, to see that Frant and the 
guide had disappeared. “ I have nothing against 
him but that,” said Anderson, smiling. “The 
world is wide enough. He might have lived on 
but for that; but in the path I have marked out 
there is not room for us both. Why should it be 
tob good to be true? ” 

The sun was getting well now toward the west, 
and he knew that he had two hours’ walk back to 
the hotel. They said there was another way; but 
he doubted his ability to find it, and a slight shiver 
ran through him as he recalled the steep precipice 
7 


98 


A SECRET QUEST. 


he had climbed that morning — one he would have 
to descend alone. 

“ How long had I better stop?” he asked him- 
self at the end of an hour. “ I cannot be expected 
to stay here till the evening is close at hand. It 
would be madness to stay longer! What’s that?” 

A curious sound had come from a distance, 
seeming for a moment to dominate the deep-toned 
roar of the torrent. It was the guide’s jodel, and 
turning his eyes to the left he saw three figures 
coming down the opposite side of the gorge. . 

“ Bah! I need not break my heart about him,” 
he said, mockingly. “Not even hurt,” he mut- 
tered. “ Well, perhaps it is better so.” 

As he stood watching the little party come 
across the glacier, crossing the various obstacles 
with a display of activity that excited his envy, 
he took off his hat and waved it to them, and 
went down part of the way to meet them with a 
smile. 

“ You quite startled me,” he said ; “ I was afraid 
something terrible had happened.” 

“ So there had,” cried Frant, pettishly; “ Deane 
had found a round stone with a hole in it, and if 
we had not shouted at him he would have been 
dreaming over it till dark. ” 

“A round stone?” * 

“Don’t take any notice of him, Mr. Anderson,” 
said Deane, merrily ; “ I am looking for some of 
the old mine workings, and I think I have come 
upon traces over yonder. ” 

“Gammon!” cried Frant. “Come, push on. 


A SECRET QUEST. 99 

old chap; I want some of our friend’s dinner. Go 
ahead, Valter.” 

They began the return journey, and Anderson, 
who was close behind Deane, asked what the 
traces were. 

“Show him,” shouted Frant from the front. 

“Oh, there is nothing to show but this,” said 
Deane, and he produced a heavy stone about the 
size and shape of a small cocoanut, perforated as if 
it had once had a stick thrust through it as a handle. 

“ But that might have accidentally been formed 
in that shape,” remarked Anderson. 

“ Oh, dear me, no, ” cried Frant, banteringly. 
“Ask him, and he’ll tell you it was a crusher 
used by some old barbarian laborer working for 
our friends, the Romans. ” 

“ Why not?” said Deane, quietly. 

“Ah, to be sure; why not? You come again, 
old man, and see if you can’t find Mr. Barbarian’s 
bones!” 

As they walked back Anderson continued the* 
conversation with Deane apropos of the Roman re- 
mains ; but his eyes were wandering from side to 
side, and he realized how he might have rambled 
about for hours without freeing himself from the 
wilderness of ice and frozen snow, with the proba- 
bility that he would have stepped inadvertently 
into one of the crevices as the darkness fell. 

“ I wonder what my clients in town would say 
if they had seen me hanging at the end of that 
rope, or stumbling and slipping about here in this 
wintry chaos,” he said, at last, laughingly. 


lOO 


A SECRET QUEST. 


^ “ Only that you had got a touch of the Alpine 
fever,” said Deane. “ We all catch it out here.” 

“Yes, I must have some more trips like this,” 
cried Anderson, enthusiastically. “ It is grand.” 

“ Dinner’s a grander subject to my mind now,” 
cried Frant. “ Mr. Anderson, in anticipation, I 
drink your health, and muscularity to your legs.” 

Anderson laughed merrily, but he was scanning 
the way carefully, and trying to impress it on his 
memory ready for future use. 

“ This is the longer way back, though, is it not?” 
he said, at last, as they were nearing the main 
valley. 

“Yes; but it’s getting dark,” replied Deane, 
“ and we felt that this would be safer. ” 


CHAPTER XIV. 


“Now, really, John, I am surprised at you — 
and before Hester, too.” 

Colonel Denton sat back in his chair and 
laughed. It was reaction day, after a very severe 
fit of pain, during which he had sent Hester out 
of the room in tears after declaring a dozen times 
over that his last day had really come. Then he 
had had a severe encounter with Aunt Ecclesia, 
who had not found herself able to stand her ground 
so well as in general ; in fact, it had been a stormy 
day. Deane and Frant had been up to the chalet^ 
but had been delicately warned off by Hester, who 
apologetically suggested that as papa was so un- 
well it would be better for them to call again 
And when, later on, Anderson had strolled up to 
the place to ask the Colonel whether he had rec- 
ommended the use of Sprudel salts twice or four 
times a week, the sound of the old officer’s voice 
roaring furiously warned him that it would be 
better if he deferred his call. 

The storm having passed, the Colonel’s guilty 
conscience needed no accuser. He was trying 
hard to efface the recollections of the previous day, 
and after bringing smiles once more to Hester’s 
pale face, he was bantering his sister-in-law till 
she grew quite ruffled. 


102 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Well,” he said; “I suppose it’s natural, and 
I don’t see why you should not marry again, 
Ecclesia.” 

“John, will you he quiet!” cried the little lady, 
whose face was now scarlet. 

“No — why should I? Not blind, my dear! 
What I was going to say^is ” 

“ Nothing at all. Hester, my dear, if your papa 
persists in going on like this I shall think seriously 
of going back to England.” 

“Not you. Wouldn’t have the heart. What 
I was going to say is that I am not surprised at 
your feeling disposed to marry again. But I am 
surprised that you should contemplate such a 
mesalliance. ” 

“John, how dare you?” 

“ For the honor of our family — for Hester’s 
sake.” 

“Really you are too dreadful, John. What do 
you mean?” 

“ Of course, I know that he is well built, sturdy, 
good looking, and evidently very healthy. Then, 
I suppose he is about your own age?” 

“Oh, Hester, this is dreadful,” cried Aunt Ec- 
clesia, springing up and looking hot as well as red. 

“Ah! If you attempt to leave the room, 
madam. I’ll lock the door.” 

“ Then I insist upon your being silent. When 
Hester is not here, John, I will talk to you.” 

“ Sit still, Hetty, my dear. Your aunt must be 
brought to see this contemplated folly as other 
people see it. ” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


103 


“I tell you I don’t contemplate any folly,” cried 
the little lady with a stamp of the foot. 

“Oh, come, come!” cried the Colonel, “it’s as 
plain as a pike-staff. Of course, you are your own 
mistress, and have your fortune at your command. 
But — shall you settle here, in the valley?” 

“What do you mean, John?” 

“And keep cows?” 

Aunt Ecclesia took up some work and began to 
stitch viciously. 

“ Of course, you could cultivate the cheese trade, 
and let apartments in the season.” 

“ Is your papa going mad, Hester?” said Aunt 
Ecclesia. 

“Not a bit of it — I am only sorry. But you are 
such a good, patient, dear little woman, Ecclesia, 
that we will not throw you over. Hetty and I 
will come and take lodgings with you every 
summer.” 

“ I declare, John, it is too bad.” 

“ But though I grant the necessity for a woman 
of your years to have a guide, I am surprised that 
you should have chosen a Swiss of his class.” 

“ Oh, this is getting beyond a joke,” cried Aunt 
Ecclesia, who was now angry. “John, what do 
you mean?” 

“ I mean about your carryings on with that fel- 
low Valter. ” 

“John!” 

“Oh, come, it’s of no use to deny it! You know 
it was all nonsense when you were holding on to 
that tree.” 


104 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ It was not nonsense, John. I was utterly 
unnerved.” 

“Stuff! You could have walked back easily 
enough, only you wanted Master Valter to come 
and help!” 

“John, it is not true.” 

“What!” cried the Colonel. “Why, you had 
better deny that he took you in his arms and waded 
with 3^ou across the stream.” 

“ I don't deny it, sir; but he carried Hester over 
afterward; and then he carried you — and — very 
ridiculous you looked.” 

“ I did, my dear, very. A man of my years 
does not look well carried pick-aback; but I did 
not want to wet my feet. There; I hear that Mr. 
Anderson came up yesterday when I was ill, so I 
think I will walk up to the hotel and have a chat 
with him. Are we going for a walk this after- 
noon? You’ll come, of course, Ecclesia?” 

“ I shall stay here,” said the lady, shortly. 

“ Nonsense ! you must come with us. There was 
some talk of going as far as the glacier, and the 
guides will be with us.” 

Aunt Ecclesia frowned. 

“ I don’t suppose I shall be very long,” continued 
the Colonel, and he went out. 

“Oh, Hester, my child,” cried Aunt Ecclesia, 
“ it is too dreadful. Can your father really believe 
such a thing of me?” 

“Why, of course not, auntie; he was teasing 
you all the time. But ” 

“ But what?” 


A SECRET QUEST. I05 

“ I was only thinking, dear, that all the time 
papa meant some one else.” 

Aunt Ecclesia started up indignantly, then sank 
back into her chair and burst into tears. 

“ Auntie, auntie!” cried Hester, tenderly, “ what 
have I done? I can’t help seeing that you like 
him.” 

“And if I do, dear, I never let him see it; and 
I never reproach you for liking Mr. Deane.” 

“Aunt, dear, for shame!”, cried Hester, flushing, 
and rising from where she had been kneeling with 
her arms about her aunt’s waist. She went to the 
window, but only to start back, for Deane and 
Frant were just crossing the debris of the avalanche. 

“Aunt, dear,” said Hester, “are we not talking 
in a very foolish, unprofitable way?” 

“ I don’t know, my dear. I must speak to you, 
though. ” 

“What about, aunt?” 

“ Hetty, I will never give my consent to your 
accepting Mr. Anderson!” 

“How absurd, aunt! Surely you do not think 
he means that?” 

“ I hope not. He is far too old for me; for you, 
it would be absurd.” 

“Yes, aunt,” said Hester, with a sigh of relief; 
“ absurd !” 

“ I am relieved to hear that, my dear.” 


CHAPTER XV. 


It was a full month now since Anderson had 
<come, and he had not been able to blind himself to 
.the fact that Hester had been warm and cool by 
turns, while there was not room for a doubt as to 
the lawyer’s intentions. He had gradually wound 
himself more and more into the Colonel’s confi- 
dence, asking his advice on questions of health, 
and treating the said advice with the greatest def- 
erence. And now they had reached a point when 
he was the Colonel’s constant companion in his 
walks. He was daily in Hester’s society, and it 
seemed as if Deane’s love affair had met with a 
severe check, and the lady was ready to accept the 
middle-aged visitor as her suitor. 

All this had soured Deane. One day he was 
hopeful, hanging on a smile or a look; the next 
despondent, and ready to take his ice-axe and dash 
off into some out-of-the-way thal where he could 
be alone with nature in her most savage moods. 
But not for long; Frant and Valter invariably 
hunted him out, the former to speak to him cheer- 
ily, and the latter to lecture him on the danger of 
making such venturous expeditions without a 
guide. 

On this day, after the morning’s disappointment 
io6 


A SECRET QUEST. 


107 

regarding an expedition that had been half prom- 
ised during a whist party at the Colonel’s, Deane 
had hurried off, with the sun blazing down, and 
was overtaken a couple of hours later by Frant. 

After that they had plunged into a wilder spot 
than usual, in opposition to Valter’s advice; he 
had detected signs of a storm in the distance cross- 
ing the great peaks of the Oberland, till at last 
the threatenings became so ominous that they 
were obliged to make for the shelter of the hotel; 
but only to find that they had turned too late. 
The distance was greater than Deane, in his ex- 
citement, had realized, and before they were half 
way back down came the storm, covering every- 
thing in a few minutes with a wintry mantle. 

The two young men trudged on in silence, Frant 
hoping that before long, as they got lower, the 
snow would become rain. On thd contrary, the 
weather grew worse, and it seemed as if they 
would never get down into the main valley or 
reach the hotel. 

“ Schneethal,'' grumbled Frant at last, after a few 
minutes’ shelter in a hollow, while they had a sip 
of brandy and lit their pipes ; “ why this ought to 
be the snow valley, Valter.” 

“Yes, herr.” 

“Talk about June — why it’s December.” 

“ The herr forgets that it is always December in 
the mountains if he goes high enough up. ” 

“ Let’s get on,” said Deane, and they proceeded 
with their walk, which became almost perilous, 
for the evening was near at hand. A quarter of 


io8 


A SECRET QUEST. 


an hour passed, and they were walking abreast 
now, crunch, crunch through the snow, which 
emitted a creaking sound as it was compressed. 
Deane had been silent, and Frant had tried to en- 
liven the way by whistling and shouting a word 
from time to time at Valter, who was leading, 
when Deane, after making several efforts to bring 
himself to speak, suddenly said — 

“ You do not honestly think that they were going 
for a walk to-day, Aleck?” 

“Come, that’s more like you,” was the reply. 
“Yes, old fellow, I honestly do.” 

There was a pause of some minutes’ duration, 
and it required a greater effort before Deane 'spoke 
again. 

“ Why do you think so?” 

“Because Mrs. Lindley said she was sure they 
would, and suggested that we should stay.” 

Deane drew his breath hard and there was si- 
lence. The wind shrieked and roared above their 
heads, while the snow came in blinding puffs in 
their faces. 

“Are we going right, Valter?” shouted Frant. 

“Right, herr? Oh, yes,” said the guide, in a 
tone which inspired confidence. 

“ Toddle along, then. We’ll keep close behind. 
It all seems new ground to me in this snow. I 
say, Adam — not very nice to sleep in a snow hovel 
to-night.” 

Deane did not answer; he felt on fire with jeal- 
ousy. 

“ I should look out for a sehn hutte^ and ask the 


A SECRET QUEST. 


109 


hospitality of some cow. It would be warm, and 
one might get some milk.” 

“ They surely would have seen signs of the com- 
ing storm,” said Deane, at length, “and have 
stayed back.” 

“Oh, yes, I should think so,” replied Frant. 

“ How much farther is it, Valter?” shouted 
Deane, after a long interval of battling with the 
snow. 

“A half hour, herr — not more,” was the cheer- 
ing reply. “ Can you walk faster?” 

“Yes, yes — go on,” said Deane, hoarsely. 

Still they did not go faster, but more slowly, for 
the snow grew deeper in the narrow path they had 
now reached; but in an interval of the raging wind 
there came up from below the deep-toned roar of 
the falls just beyond the hotel, and at last the 
bridge was reached. They passed over to where, 
on its broad platform, the Chalet Hotel stood — that 
they had left a few hours before in the midst of 
summer, and had returned to find in a complete 
wintry garb. 

“Hurrah! lights!” cried Frant, as there was a 
gleam from one of the windows, dimly seen through 
the fast-falling snow. 

Deane gazed up to the right to try and make out 
the lights in the Colonel’s cottage, but in vain. 

Just then Valter sent forth the familiar Swiss 
jodel^ which was answered from a little way before 
them, and in a few minutes the three white figures 
reached the open doorway of the hotel. 

Quite a little group was ready to welcome them, 


I lO 


A SECRET QUEST. 


and, amid an eager burst of inquiry, Mrs. Lindley 
came hurriedly from the dining-room. 

“ Oh, I am so glad you are both safe,” she cried, 
and then stopped short, panted, and exclaimed: 
“ Where are the others?” 

“ The others?” cried Deane, excitedly. “ They 
are not out.” 

“Yes, yes. I thought you would see them.” 

“ Good heavens! Which way did they go?” 

“Up toward the pass.” • 

“ Miss Denton?” 

“Yes, and Mr. Anderson.” 

“ Alone!” shouted Deane. 

“No, no; my brother-in-law was with them. 
They went at twelve. ” 

Deane turned from her toward the door, but 
Frant darted at him and caught his arm. 

“Don’t — don’t do that!” cried Deane, shaking 
himself free. 

“But listen, man,” said Frant, hoarsely, as a 
burst of exclamation arose from the landlord, his 
wife, and those around. “ Here, I say : has any 
one gone to meet them?” 

“No, herr,” cried the landlord. “We have ex- 
pected them moment by moment.” 

“Valter, lad,” cried Frant, “what have you to 
-say?” 

“ It is like walking to one’s death to go up the 
pass to-night, herr,” he said^ gravely. “ The path 
is covered with snow. ” 

“ Do you hear, Adam?” whispered Frant. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


Ill 


“ Hear!” he replied. “ It is as if a trumpet had 
blared it in my ears. Are you my friend?” 

Frant gripped his hand firmly. 

“ Then come on. ” 

“Mr. Frant!” cried Aunt Ecclesia, wildly; but 
he was already out in the snow, where Adam 
Deane’s dimly-seen figure was disappearing be- 
yond the narrow range of the lights; and, after a 
moment’s hesitation, Valter caught up the lan- 
tern standing ready lit, and dashed off after them, 
shouting them to stay. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


Frant laid his hand on Deane’s shoulder as he 
overtook him. 

“ What are you going to do?” he said. 

“Can you ask?” 

“You know, I suppose, that up the pass the 
snow will be very deep?” 

“ Yes. Don’t waste time with questions.” 

“You hardly know the way. The path will be 
covered.” 

“Yes.” 

“And the risk will be terrible.” 

“Man, I know all that,” cried Deane. “Come 
on; or go back, if you like. We are losing time.” 

“One minute. You know there is the old hos- 
pice up in the pass — hotel now.” 

“Yes.” 

“ And that there are several refuges where they 
may be in safety. ” 

“I know, too, that they may not have reached 
the hospice or refuges, and are perhaps helpless 
in the snow. Are you coming, or going to stay?” 

“ Coming, ” said Frant, quietly. “ Ah, ” he added 
joyously, as there was a glow of light close to 
them, “here is Valter.” 

“ Are you going up the pass, herrs?” he said, 
sharply. 


I 12 


A SECRET QUEST. 


113 


“ Yes,” cried Frant. “ We must find these peo- 
ple. Are you going to venture too!” 

“I am your guide, gentlemen,” said the man, 
simply. “ What would they say about here if I 
let my herrs go alone?” 

“ Ten pounds for to-night’s work, Valter, if we 
find them,” cried Deane. 

“ Twenty pounds would not make me go, herr,” 
said the man, quietly. “ I am going to help save 
those poor souls. ” 

Deane caught the guide’s hand in his, gripped 
it hard for a moment, and then pointed forward. 

“ One minute, herr, ” said Valter. “ Your flask?” 

“ Three parts full of brandy. ” 

“And mine half,” cried Frant. • 

Without another word the guide opened the lan- 
tern, trimmed the light a little, closed the snow- 
flecked glass with a snap, and started up the valley 
along by the swift torrent, which came roaring 
down, black now as ink by contrast with the snow. 

“Quicker,” said Deane, who was next, after 
they had gone some distance. 

“ No, herr,” said Valter, quietly, his voice being 
swept away as the snow-laden wind rushed down 
the thal. “Slow and steady. We shall want all 
our strength. Quicker means breaking down be- 
fore we are half way up the pass.” 

Deane drew a deep breath, for he recalled how 
they had been tramping all day, and felt the truth 
of the man’s words. 

“Can you hear me,” shouted Valter. 

“ Yes; go on.” 

8 


A SECRET QUEST, 


II4 


“ The path, as you know, keeps on all the way 
by the river, sometimes on one side, sometimes on 
the other. ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ They cannot very well have strayed from it 
except where it forks and runs up into the moun- 
tains.” 

“ And there are only two places between here 
and the col."' 

“Four, herr,” said the guide, quietly. “There 
is the eastern path up to the Schwartz grat^ and 
the western which leads up to the Ewigesfirn. ” 

“Yes, I had forgotten those,” said Deane. 

“ But they are not likely to have gone up there. 
If they had strayed away in the blinding snow, 
they would know they were wrong because it is 
so steep, and have come back to the path.” 

“ If they could,” muttered Deane, as he tramped 
heavily on through the snow. 

“Oh, my poor dinner!” said Frant to himself; 
“ and not had time to light a pipe. Seems a hard 
thing to do — this. But there, one always feels at 
one’s best when trying to do something hard. 
Can’t talk to poor old Deane now, so must talk to 
myself. Wish I could light my pipe.” 

They pressed on, with the snow seeming to 
blind them as it swept down ; but the spirit within 
their breasts kept them sternly bent to their task, 
and the trio went a mile of their way without in- 
cident, listening to the rush of the waters deep 
down on their left. At times the rocky path was 
fairly clear, but in the hollows the snow was fast 


A SECRET QUEST. 


II5 

growing deeper, and as every step carried them 
higher up the gorge, beyond the growth of pine 
and shrub, to the desolate wilderness of barren 
rocks, they knew that their difficulties would 
increase. 

They forgot their weariness, however, in the 
excitement, and Frant, still last, went on musing 
with his head bent, rather liking the parts of 
their walk where there was a difficulty to sur- 
mount. 

“Poor girl!” he said to himself. “Poor little 
darling! I am sorry I called her a coquette. 
Some disagreeable people would say this served 
me right, and was a judgment on me. Well, I 
can’t do that. She’s too nice. But I am wild 
with her for taking to that lean-faced ’Stopheles 
instead of poor old Deane. ” 

“ Poor old Adam !” he continued, after ridding 
his boot-soles of two rounded masses of ice; “he’s 
too good for her. Women are so silly.” 

Then he began thinking about Mrs. Bindley. 

“So am I,” he mused, “to get thinking about 
that round, pleasant little woman; but how can a 
fellow help it when he has carried her in his arms 
and had hers tight round his neck? What a cry 
she gave, too, as I ran out. It was as if she was 
afraid I should get into danger, and wanted me to 
stay. Enough to make any man run away. No,” 
he continued, after a pause, during which the 
wind came with terrific force, driving the snow- 
drift in his teeth; “that sort of thing won’t do. 
I’m not a marrying man. Make the poor little 


Il6 A SECRET QUEST. 

thing a widow again by breaking my miserable 
neck, as they say I shall some day. Break her 
heart if she was growing to care for me. By 
George ! I hope we shall find these poor creatures. 
It’s cold enough to kill a horse. Hullo! anything 
the matter?” 

“No, sir,” shouted Valter, who had halted and 
was holding the light above his head, “ I was only 
thinking. There’s one of the turnings up into 
the mountains ; but they could hardly have strayed 
up there. ” 

“ No, ” said Deane, “ forward !” 

The tramp, tramp, over the creaking snow con- 
tinued. 

For the next half-hour not a word was spoken. 
The toilsome nature of the walking and the depth 
of the drifts through which now and then they 
had to struggle, took away the disposition to con- 
verse, more especially as the wind smote them so 
heavily that they had to pant for breath. 

At last, the agony Deane had suppressed so far, 
as he pictured a hundred perils for the woman he 
dearly loved, would seek some alleviation, and he 
pressed near to the guide as he trudged on with 
head bent and eyes wandering from side to side 
where the snow was faintly illumined by the mov- 
ing lamp. 

“Valter!” he cried. 

‘ Herr?” 

“No, no, don’t stop. I’ll try and make you 
hear me. I’ve been thinking. They must have 
been a long way up the pass here. The Colonel 


A SECRET QUEST. 


II7 

said he should go up to the top some day, so as to 
see the view in the Rhone Valley; and as they 
saw the storm coming on — you remember a few 
flakes were falling for quite an hour before the 
wind descended so fiercely?” 

‘‘Yes, herr, I remember.” 

“ So they must have gone on to the old hospice 
to take shelter till the snow had ceased.” 

Valter tramped on in silence, and his dimly 
seen figure looked weird and strange, the lantern 
shedding a halo roupd the guide against which his 
dark figure was seen. 

“ Well, ” shouted Deane, “ why don’t you speak?” 
But he was trembling with dread at the man’s 
manner, for Valter was no pessimist, and always 
took a cheerful view of their troubles when they 
were climbing. 

“ Speak, herr?” 

“Yes. You think they have taken shelter 
there?” 

“No, herr, I do not,” said the man, gravely. 

“ But why not? What could be more likely?” 

“ It is likely that they would go there hoping 
for shelter; but it is early in the season, herr. 
The hospice hotel does not open for a fortnight 
yet. It has been shut up all the winter. ” 

“And no one there?” groaned Deane. “I ought 
to have known.” 

There was an interval of toilsome labor now, as 
they tramped on, the despair Deane felt chilling 
him more than the icy blast. But he took heart 
again. 


ii8 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“They must have gone up there,” he said, 
“Look here, Valter.” 

“I am listening, herr.” 

“ They would have found the place closed, but 
there are stables and out-buildings that would 
have given them shelter.” 

“ No, herr. Everything would have been 
tightly closed up, and I was told last week that the 
snow lay many feet deep about the place — the 
snow of February’s storm.” 

“ Then they would have gone on over the pass 
and down into the Rhone Valley. They would 
soon get shelter there.” 

“ No people like those three could have climbed 
up the col in the face of this storm. It would take 
strong men to do it, and they must be people who 
know the way. I should have thought it madness 
to go up there. You know what a savage place 
it is.” 

Deane was silent. He remembered well how 
they had been overtaken on a fine day by a mist, 
and how difficult they had found it to avoid a fall 
in the labyrinth of mighty rocks and hollows be- 
wildering in the extreme at such a time. 

“But you have some idea, man. You think 
they have taken shelter?” 

“ There’s no shelter except in the refuges, sir. 
Perhaps they are in one of them. Stop!” 

He started back, for all at once, high upon their 
right, there was a roar as of thunder strangely 
muffled by the wind and snow. 

“The good God spare our lives!” he whispered. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


19 


with prayerful simplicity and faith, as the trio 
stood awe-stricken, knowing that the weight of 
the newly-fallen snow higher had set some of the 
Jirn in motion, and that it was sweeping down 
toward them. They felt as one man that to move 
might be to rush right into the peril they sought 
to avoid. 

The roar increased till it w^as one deep over- 
powering boom, which died oif in a smothered 
groan; and then the wind seemed to rise again 
with a triumphant shriek. 

“A fall from the Etzlifirn, herr,” shouted Val- 
ter. “ There is no danger now. Forward. ” 

For three hours more they plodded on, with in- 
creasing difficulty; for as they rose higher — from 
four to five, and thence to six thousand feet above 
the sea level — it was more and more into the 
region of furious wintry storm, and there was yet 
another thousand feet of slow tedious climb be- 
fore they would reach the first refuge. It was ap- 
proaching midnight when, panting and exhausted, 
the little rescue party struggled up the slope to a 
narrow platform, a hundred feet from the track, 
where a stone tent was built into a niche in a per- 
pendicular wall of rock. 

“Courage, herr, courage!” panted Valter, as, 
with the lantern swaying, he waded through a 
drift of snow whose surface was level with his 
waist. “Keep to my steps; mayhap they are 
here. ” 

“No,” groaned Deane, “they could never have 
found this place in the face of the storm. ” 


120 


A SECRET QUEST. 


Frant said nothing, but he thought the same a;- 
he stooped and entered the rugged hut, whose 
floor was covered with drifted snow. 

The place looked ghastly and strange by the 
light of the lantern. Chilly as it was, it felt 
comparatively warm, and the light ceased to flicker 
as the guide shook off the snow from his garb. 

“ Forward to the next,” said Deane. 

“ In five minutes, herr,” said the guide. 

“Yes, we must get breath. You will break 
down, old man,” said Frant, producing his flask. 
“ Here, have a drop. ” 

“For heaven’s sake, no,” said Deane, passion- 
ately; “save every drop. That may mean the 
saving of their lives.” 

“I have more here,” said Valter, tapping his 
breast, “ than we dare give them. Drink, gentle- 
men ; we want all our strength. ” 

Deane tossed off the portion handed to him, and 
started again to the door, to stand gazing out at 
the black solidity that spread before him, flecked 
with the huge flakes of snow which swept by. 

“Shall I?” said Frant, inquiringly, of the guide, 
as he took out his pipe and pouch. 

“ Yes. We must have rest and strength, herr. 
Make him smoke, too.” 

Frant nodded, took out his pocket-book, and 
drew from its folds an excellent cigar. 

“ Here, Deane,” he said; “take this.” 

“What? No — no. Man! — man! Don’t stay 

trifling here. Come on. ” 

“ We are a quarter hour from the next refuge. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


I2I 


herr, and the snow will be deeper. You must 
gain strength. Smoke and drink again,” said 
Valter. “ I say you should. I am your guide.” 

Deane drank again; the door of the lantern 
was opened, and directly after the pungent smoke 
from cigar and pipe began to fill the hut. 

Deane smoked on furiously, tramping up and 
down the narrow place, while the wind that 
rushed wildly along among the piled-up rocks 
about them, and smote heavily upon the face of 
the precipice, gave forth shrieks which sounded 
like those of human beings in distress, followed 
by exulting roars and yells as from a pack of 
demons of the storm. 

“Yes,” said Valter, as if in answer to a ques- 
tion asked by Frant, just as one of these wild 
choruses died away in the distance, “the poor 
people in the mountains say that the tempest fiends 
raise these storms, and ride down the valleys 
among the sehne hutte and tear up the pines. It 
is not so; but it sounds as if they were all loose 
from hades on a night like this.” 

Once more out into the wild night, the wind tear- 
ing at them as it rushed snow-laden down the rap- 
idly narrowing gorge, forcing the little party to 
shelter behind a mass of stone tumbled down from 
above. Growing exhausted now with their many 
hours of battling with the elements, everything 
about them seemed to be unreal and strange, and 
as they staggered on toward the second refuge, 
Deane looked in vain for objects that would recall 
previous visits to the pass. 


122 


A SECRET QUEST. 


All appeared changed ; and growing minute by 
minute more confused, and stunned by the buffet- 
ing of the storm and the constant exhausting effort 
at plodding through the snow, he was in nowise 
surprised at Valter stopping short at the first place 
where they could get a little shelter and wiping 
the snow from his eyes. 

“Tired?” panted Frant. 

“No, herr; but I fear I have lost my way!” 

“Impossible!” cried Frant. “We can’t have 
gone off the path. The only way is along there.” 

He pointed as he spoke to where the torrent 
foamed along, a couple of hundred feet beneath 
the path. 

“ I mean, I’m afraid I have passed the second 
snow hut.” 

“I have been thinking so, too,” said Deane, 
bitterly ; “ but I trusted you. ” 

The guide started as if he had been stung. 

“Come along, herrs,” he said; “perhaps we 
have not passed it. We had to fight so hard 
against the snow and wind that it may have 
seemed longer. It ought to be near here. ” 

“What’s that heap of snow there?” said Frant, 
as he tried to peer through the darkness. 

“That?” cried Valter, dubiously. “Ah!” he 
added, joyously, the next moment, “I am right. 
Behold the place. ” 

He hurried up, stumbled twice in his weariness, 
and then they saw him tearing at the snow, which 
gave way and fell inward, while as the man thrust 
in the lantern he uttered a shout of joy^ 


A SECRET QUEST. 


123 


“They are there!” cried Deane, following" 
quickly into the hut, whose entrance was half 
blocked by the drift. 

“It is the Herr Colonel,” cried Valter, ex- 
citedly; and the old officer struggled up from a 
corner into a half recumbent position, to stare 
with half closed eyes at the light. 

“Where am — Ah, my child! Help! help!” he 
gasped. 

“Yes, we are come,” cried Deane, excitedly. 
“Where is she?” 

“Hester? Hester?” said the Colonel, with a 
blank look indicative of the stupor brought on by 
cold and exhaustion. 

“Yes. Where is she, sir? For God's sake, 
speak.” 

“She — they were here — just now — I could go 
no further — I don’t know — I must have slept. 
Brandy. ” 

Frant’s flask was already at his lips, and he 
drank eagerly, but only to sink back afterward with 
a sigh, and they could not extract another word. 

“ Listen, ” said Deane, as he took off the rolled- 
up cape he bore swung from a strap — for in spite 
of the storm he had remained uncovered so as to 
leave himself free to walk — “ he said he could go 
no farther. They must have left him in shelter 
while they went on for help.” 

“Upward?” said the guide. “We must have 
seen them if they had come down. ” 

“ Unless,” thought Deane, “they slipped and 
were carried away by the torrent. ” 


124 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Unless,” thought Frant, “we have passed 
them, or perhaps trampled over them lying buried 
in the snow.” 

“Vorwarts!” shouted Valter, excitedly. “We 
shall find them yet;” and after covering the Colo- 
nel with the macintosh cape he had unrolled, 
Deane stepped out once more to resume the battle 
with the raging storm and try to beat down the 
agonizing thought that tortured him — the thought 
of Hester alone with this man away here in the 
mountains. 

“ But if I can only save her life, ” he groaned ; 
and then staggered with exhaustion. 

“Hold up, man,” shouted Frant, as he gripped 
his arm. “Another inch and you would have 
fallen headlong into the stream.” 

“And been swept away to be at rest,” thought 
Deane, as he bent once more to his task to save 
Hester— for another, 


CHAPTER XVIL 


“Say no,” said the Colonel. 

“ But, papa, the little expedition was arranged 
for,” pleaded Hester, and Aunt Ecclesia looked at 
her brother-in-law and tightened her lips. 

“ I don’t care if a dozen were arranged for. I’m 
general in command here. Hang it all, if orders 
are given for an advance, the officer has a perfect 
right to alter it into a retreat. We won’t go.” 

“But, papa!” 

“There, it’s coming on,” said the Colonel, 
fiercely. “I’ve another attack threatening, and 
if you begin to oppose me I shall be in agony 
directly. ” 

“Really, though, John dear, it would be like 
insulting Mr. Deane to draw back now. ” 

“ Hear that, Hetty. Your aunt wants to go 
climbing, with the Swiss mesalliance to keep on 
pulling her up the steep bits. ” 

“John! How can you?” 

“ Papa, dear, do reconsider your determination. 
You quite led Mr. Frant to think that we expected 
them ; and it is such a fine morning. ” 

” I don’t care if it’s the finest morning the sun 
ever warmed; and besides, it was not Frant \ 
promised to go, but Deane. ” 

^25 


126 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Then you ought not to break your promise^ 
John.” 

“ I’m out here for a change, madam, and I shall 
do as I please. It’s horrible going for walks with 
those fellows. I shan’t have any legs left soon. 
What with Deane and his long shanks, and that 
dumpy fellow with his miserably short ones, every 
walk is spoiled.” 

Aunt Ecclesia uttered a sound that was un- 
commonly like a snort, and stabbed her sewing 
viciously as she bent over it. The Colonel noticed 
her annoyance, and after a mischievous look at 
Hester, continued; 

^‘That fellow Frant’s tremendously strong — 
strong as that kicking mule of yours, Hetty ; but 
his legs are ridiculous.” 

“ But you will go, papa?” 

“ No, I shall not. Let them go and walk the 
soles of their greasy boots off, and climb and bal- 
ance themselves on the highest point. I’m going 
to have a quiet stroll up toward the old hospice 
with Mr. Anderson.” 

Hester’s brow wrinkled a little, but she said 
nothing. Aunt Ecclesia was not so reticent. 

“ Really, J ohn ; if we are abroad, we ought to 
retain our politeness. ” 

“• What, and be dragged up the side of the moun- 
tain to see views that are always smothered by 
clouds, or have that Frant trotting by one’s side 
like a two-legged bull-dog, droning into my ears 
accounts of the different mountains he has climbed ! 
Hang him and his mountains ! I wished last time 


A SECRET QUEST. 


127 


that there was not a single mountain left on the 
face of the earth, or else that he’d slip into some 
hole and be smothered. ” 

“ Ugh !” ejaculated Aunt Ecclesia. Then aloud, 
“You are not obliged to walk with Mr. Frant. ” 

“With whom then, pray? That Deane? Bah! 
I haven’t patience with his absurdities about the 
Romans working for gold. Humbug. They never 
worked for anything. Only waited till they saw 
some one had found what was worth having, and 
then they went and knocked him on the head. 
Deane is a perfect bore. ” 

It was Hester’s turn now to look conscious, and 
glancing at her aunt, she found Aunt Ecclesia was 
looking at her, and she blushed. 

“ No. I’m shaky, and disposed to have another 
of my fits — jungle fever this time, I expect. They 
may go and climb and find gold if they like; I’m 
for a quiet walk with Anderson. ’’ 

Aunt Ecclesia half rose, but at an imploring 
glance from Hester she sank back, just as Deane 
and Frant came up the path to remind them of 
the proposed ramble — which was declined, Hester 
having the task of informing them of the change. 
The Colonel had retired to his room. 

It was not a pleasant task, and Hester sent 
them both away with the impression that the 
change was entirely her own doing, making Deane 
smart with jealousy, and Frant bluntly declare 
later on that the girl was a heartless coquette. 

“ Oh, Hester, what have you done?” cried her 
aunt, as soon as they were alone. 


128 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Done, aunt?” faltered the girl, who looked pale. 

“Yes. You’ve made Mr. Deane go away think* 
ingthat you preferred a walk up the pass with Mr. 
Anderson.” 

“Oh, aunt!” 

“ And if it wanted indorsing, here comes Mr. 
Anderson. Ah, there he is bowing to them and 
smiling, as if he knew there was something wrong, 
and they have gone on almost without speaking.” 

Hester’s brow grew wrinkled, and a look of 
misery contracted her e3^es. 

“ Oh, how I dislike that man, my dear, and we 
shall have him and his smooth oily politeness all 
day. There, I can’t meet him now, or I shall say 
something rude.” 

“Aunt, aunt!” cried Hester, catching her arm; 
“you must not go.” 

“ Why not?” 

“ I wouldn’t be alone with him for all the world. ” 

“And why not, pray?” 

“ Because I am sure, aunt, he wants to say some- 
thing to me that I should not like. ” 

“He had better,” said Aunt Ecclesia, ruffling 
up like a soft white dove. “ I wish he’d say it to 
me.” 

“ Aunt!” 

“ I do indeed, my child; I’d take the conceit out 
of him.” 

“You will stay?” 

“ Oh, well, if you feel like that, I suppose I had 
better. Oh, dear me, why were such men as he 
ever made?” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


129 


The object of her remark was close to the window 
now, and directly after tapped with his 'stick on 
one of the veranda posts. 

“Come in,” shouted the Colonel from his room; 
“ down directly. ” 

Anderson entered smiling. He ignored the cool 
reception he received from Aunt Ecclesia, and 
Hester’s conscious and distant manners. 

“ Ah, ladies,” he said, “ it is a sin against nature 
to be at home on a morning like this. You ought 
to be out breathing the delicious air. I seem to 
gain new life every day.” 

“ I wonder you do not go for a long walk, Mr. 
Anderson.” 

“I am longing for one,” said the lawyer, smil- 
ing; “but there is something wanting — compan- 
ionship.” 

“Morning, Anderson,” said the Colonel enter- 
ing; “ready for a walk?” 

“Yes, I was just suggesting it. Will you go?” 

“ To be sure. Come, Ecclesia, get on your hat 
and big boots. ” 

“ Not this morning, John, dear. I am not quite 
well.” 

“Indigestion — too much breakfast,” said the 
Colonel, banteringly. 

“Oh, aunt!” exclaimed Hester to herself, in 
agony, as she foresaw what was to come. 

“Go and lie down for an hour or two,” con- 
tinued the Colonel. “ Come, Hetty, my dear, get 
ready, and be smart. ” 

“I think I will stay with aunt, papa.” ^ 

9 


130 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Eh?. Nonsense! — she is best alone.” 

“But, papa, it will be unkind.” 

“ To stop and worry her when she has one of 
her attacks of indigestion. You know how irri- 
table it makes her when she is like that.” 

“Really, my dear Johnf’ cried Aunt Ecclesia, 
warmly. 

“ There, you see,” cried the Colonel. “ Now, no 
nonsense; go and get ready.” 

There was a great deal of his old military deci- 
sion in his voice as he spoke, and, not venturing 
to disobey, Hester left the room to prepare for the 
journey. 

“ Lovely morning,” said the Colonel. “ Let me 
see, I may as well take my flask and some cigars.” 

“ I have mine,” said Anderson. 

“ So much the better ; but I will be independent, ” 
said the Colonel. 

“Perhaps, after all, a walk would do me good,” 
said Aunt Ecclesia, rising. “ I’ll go and get ready. ” 

“ My dear Ecclesia, you will do nothing of the 
sort,” cried the Colonel, shortly. “ I am not going 
to have you taken ill up in the mountains.” 

“ Oh, there is no fear of that.” 

“Isn’t there? My dear Ecclesia, ill-health has 
forced me to study human nature a good deal, 
You knov/ the proverb, Anderson: ‘A man is^ 
cither a fool or a physician at forty. ’ ” 

“Yes, I remember.” 

“ Well, I do not profess too much as to the ab-. 
sence of folly in my nature, but I have picked up 
a little medical lore,” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


131 

“I don’t want to flatter,” said Anderson, smil- 
ing, “ but your advice certainly has benefited me 
largel5^” 

“ Well, a little, perhaps, ” said the Colonel. “ As 
for you, Ecclesia, you will be far better at home; 
in other words, I shall not allow you to go.” 

Aunt Ecclesia’s countenance was a study, and 
she looked daggers at Anderson, who watched the 
Colonel as he went to a case upon a side table and 
took out a few cigars, with which he filled up his 
case. From thence he crossed to where a tin dis- 
patch box was standing, opened it with one of a 
small bunch of keys, and Anderson’s half-closed 
eyes glittered as the Colonel stood with his back to 
him talking about the weather, perfectly uncon- 
scious of how his actions were watched. 

“There,” said the Colonel, “I’m ready. Noth- 
ing like being prepared for one’s campaign. Hah ! 
a box of lights. Where are the matches, Ec- 
clesia?” 

“ Here are some, dear ; and really I think I will 
go. Hester will be so dull.” 

“ I’ll take care she is not dull. Quite out of the 
question. Stop at home. I dare say we shall go 
farther than you would be able to walk. Ah, here 
is Hester. Which way shall we go, Anderson?” 

“ That I leave to you — or rather to Miss Denton. 
Shall we take one of the narrow valleys, to-day?” 

“ What do you say, my dear?” 

“ I would rather leave the choice to you, papa. ” 

“ Nonsense, my dear. We wish you to choose.” 

” Then straight up the valley toward the pass, 


132 


A SECRET QUEST. 


papa,” said Hester, hastily, as she dashed at the 
most frequented of the little traversed roads. 

“To be sure! — excellent!” said Anderson. “A 
delightful walk up toward the source of the river. 
We might perhaps reach the glacier or the hospice. 
It is a good road all the way, I believe, and we 
shall want no guide.” 

“Oh, aunt, how could you hang back like this!” 
whispered Hester, as the gentlemen moved to the 
door. 

“ I didn’t, my dear; I’ve tried so hard to go, but 
you know what your father is.” 

“Come, my dear,” cried the Colonel from out- 
side. 

The next minute they were descending to the 
snow, over which a good track had now been 
trampled, and on past the hotel, along the narrow 
shelf-like path formed above the torrent, which 
came rushing and foaming down from the glaciers, 
gray with stony mud ground off by the intense 
pressure of the ice upon the limestone rocks. 

It was a glorious walk, rising higher by slow 
degrees up into the clear keen air which came 
down from the everlasting snow. The Colonel 
forgot to grow tired as hour after hour passed, and 
Anderson, who was as wiry and as active as a 
goat, led them on. 

In spite of herself, Hester could not help being 
interested in the walk, for Anderson talked well. 
He was full of apt allusions, and seemed to be a 
keen admirer of Nature. There was much to con- 
sider, too, in the differences in plant life as they 


A SECRET QUEST. 


133 


gradually rose, leaving behind the spreading pines, 
and getting into a region where vegetation began 
to be represented by mosses, which found a pre- 
carious existence amon^ the stones. Then the 
traces along the sides of the vast gorge took An- 
derson’s attention, and he proved that he knew 
enough of geology to show his companions how 
the smoothly ground rocks, right up to a hundred 
feet above their heads, had been formed by the 
vast glacier which in earlier ages had filled the 
pass they were ascending. 

To Hester his manner was all that was gentle- 
manly. There was a quiet deference in his words 
that was never impressive enough to make her re- 
tire within herself, and by degrees she began to 
tell herself that her alarm was needless, and that 
their companion was only treating her in the 
fatherly way adopted by so many middle-aged 
men toward young girls. 

With the Colonel his management was perfect. 
Every remark made was listened to with the 
greatest respect, and the old officer had so much 
to say that they were far up toward the head of 
the col when he pulled out his watch and ex- 
claimed : 

“Good heavens! — so late. No wonder I feel 
hungry. I say, Anderson, how far is it to the 
next inn?” 

“ Oh, not far. There is the old hospice — a small 
hotel now. Suppose we make that the extreme 
point of the journey, lunch, and then return leis- 
urely? It will be all down-hill, too.’’ 


134 


A SECRET QUEST. 


Almost as he spoke, there came an icy blast of 
wind, laden with tiny flakes of snow. 

“ Better hurry on,” said Anderson, quietly, “and 
get into shelter. Bit of a shower. It will not be 
much.” 

“ Yes; too far to go back,” assented the Colonel, 
and they pressed on ; but the storm came sweep- 
ing down with magical swiftness, and in ten 
minutes they were panting and struggling on 
against the furious gusts which battered and buf- 
feted them. The blinding snow came in clouds, the 
path was obliterated, and for an hour they toiled 
on steadily, with the Colonel’s strength visibly 
failing and a horrible dread of danger attacking 
Hester as they struggled on. 

The confusion engendered b)^ the shrieking of 
the hurricane, the great drain upon the strength, 
and the curious sensation of faintness and sickness, 
all tended to render the little party more and more 
helpless; and at last Hester, after fighting her 
best, was fain to accept Anderson’s arm; and 
though she shrank when he supported her more 
and more, and finally held her up as they won 
their way step by step, she was at last unable to 
resist, and was glad to lean upon him more and 
more, as his arm was passed round her, and she 
was drawn to his side. ] 

The snow grew rapidly deeper, and then to her / 
horror the Colonel slipped and fell, struggled up 
and fell again and again, to realize at last that 
he could go no further. 

“For heaven’s sake try, sir,” cried Anderson, 


A SECRET QUEST. 


^35 


who was now alarmed. “ The hospice cannot be 
far. And — yes, I know, the guide-book says there 
are four refuge huts along here. Come.” 

His words were hardly heard in the wild shriek- 
ing of the storm, but the Colonel made an effort; 
but again he fell, and Hester knelt by him in the 
snow. The courage was there, but strength failed, 
and he was at last about to drop for what would 
in all probability have been the last time, when 
Anderson uttered a shout of joy, for they were 
close to an open doorway, through which, with 
Hester’s help, the fainting man was dragged, 
almost too much exhausted to drink the brandy 
pressed upon him, after which, with his child 
kneeling by him, and supporting his head, he 
dropped into a stupor like sleep. 

“ My chance,” thought Anderson as he gazed at 
the insensible man. ” He has those papers on 
him, and ” 

He stopped short as his eyes rested in the faint 
light on Hester, and the papers were forgotten in 
a stronger passion. He felt giddy, and he drank 
heavily of the brandy in his flask. 

The effect was instantaneous, for his veins were 
already throbbing. He repeated to himself the 
words of his guide-book concerning the other ref- 
uges, and the hospice farther on. A curious feel- 
ing of madness came over him, and bending over 
Hester, he held the flask to her. 

” Drink,” he said. 

"‘No, no,” she cried, shrinking away. 


136 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Drink!” he said again, firmly. “The cold 
here may mean your death. ” ■ 

“No, Mr. Anderson.” 

“ I insist,” he said. “ It is life where all around 
is death.” 

He pressed the flask to her lips, and in spite of 
her resistance she swallowed a little of the burn- 
ing liquid. 

“ Now,” he said, raising her and holding her in 
his arms. 

She shrank from him, but was as helpless as a 
child, faint and exhausted as she felt from the 
struggle that had been going on. “Now,” he 
said, as the tempest raged on, and the drifting 
snow made the entrance seem almost black in its 
darkness: “now, come.” 

“Come?” she said. “ He cannot stir, so I must 
wait.” 

“ For him to die?” said Anderson, huskily. “ No, 
we must struggle on to the hospice and get help.” 

“It is impossible,” said Hester, faintly. 

“ No, it is possible. It is to save his life. We 
must have help. Come.” 

Faint, bewildered, and with her head throbbing 
with agony at the idea of her father perishing 
where he lay, Hester resisted no longer, but 
yielded to her companion as he drew her toward 
the door. 

The next minute they were out again in the 
blinding snow, with the wind shrieking in their 
ears; and Anderson’s arm was round the trem- 
bling girl’s waist as he half bore her on. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


Possibly Lawrence Anderson could not have 
analyzed his own thoughts and feelings at that 
time, when a tempest as wild as that sweeping 
down the pass was raging in his heart. Hereto- 
fore a calm, scheming, clear-headed man, whose 
help and counsel had been sought by those known 
as “the world” in all kinds of social entangle- 
ments, he had grown to middle age feeling a kind 
of pitiful contempt for his ordinary fellow-creat- 
ures, and looking upon woman generally as a 
poor, weak object, born to be man’s victim. Love 
was something to be thought of with scorn. He 
laughed at the idea of his ever being touched by 
what he contemptuously called the “ fools’ mea- 
sles,” till he saw Hester Denton, and suddenly 
found that measles, though a trivial fever to the 
young, is a dangerous disease to those well ad- 
vanced in life. 

Now, carried away by a fit of madness, he dared 
all the perils of the storm in the wild idea that his 
opportunity had come. Hester had seemed more 
gentle and confiding with him that day, and he 
felt that she knew he loved her. During their 
struggle up to the refuge, he had hugged himself 
with the belief that what was really weakness and 
exhaustion was trust and confidence in him — a 

137 


A SECRET QtTESt. 


138 

kind of abandon on Hester’s part, as she rested 
more and more on his arm, yielded to him as he 
passed his arm around her, and let him assist her 
till they were in the shelter. 

After the Colonel had sunk down in the stupor 
of exhaustion, he had told himself that all was 
fair in love and war, and that he must seize the 
opportunity. He was deceiving her, for there was 
no help to be obtained ; but there were the other 
refuges, and there was the hospice. He would 
get her there, that they might be alone — that, 
utterly helpless, she might rest in his arms, shel- 
tered, protected from the destroying snow, retain- 
ing life from the warmth he gave, and waking at 
last when the storm was past to know that she 
owed everything to him. Then, alone there in 
that wild pass — shut in, perhaps, for days by the 
snow drifts — she could not do otherwise than ac- 
cept him, even if she were disposed to fight against 
it. Her position, from a social point of view, 
would be sufficient to make her look upon the ac- 
ceptation of the man who had saved her life as a 
necessity. But she was not made of such stern 
metal, he told himself ; and, wild with excitement, 
he uttered his lying words as he hurried her along, 
and observed Hester growing weaker moment by 
moment, while for the time being he felt himself 
endued with almost superhuman strength. 

Once only he thought of the Colonel lying help- 
less in the refuge, and of the possibility that he 
might die. Well, if he did, the position would 
not be complicated. He was a soldier, and had 


A SECRET QUEST. 


139 


escaped so far. If he died, Hester would be the 
more helpless — thrown the more in his power ; and 
with an exulting laugh he lifted the nearly insen- 
sible girl in his arms and struggled on with her 
against the blinding snow. 

How long this took he never knew, for it was 
like some feverish dream in which from time to 
time he had to stop and rest, sheltered by the rock 
wall or by some mass of stone that had fallen from 
above; and here, as he panted with exhaustion, 
there was a joyous exultation in his breast, to 
which he tightly held his now unconscious burden. 

Then on again, with the storm shrieking in his 
ears and at times forcing him to stop breathless. 
He passed each of the refuges in turn, so buried 
and covered in with snow as to be unrecognizable 
to a stranger. But he hardly gave them a thought. 
He had the woman he worshipped closely held in 
his arms, and he staggered on and on. Sooner or 
later he knew that he would find shelter, and in 
spite of his exhaustion he was not eager to reach 
one and end the wild sensation of delight that 
made him glow. For he felt that Hester was half 
insensible — that she no longer suffered; and, 
clasped tightly to his breast, he had no fear of the 
cold proving dangerous. 

But at last his strange accession of strength be- 
gan to fail. There was more effort required to 
stagger on, and once he would have fallen if he 
had not been close under the great wall of rock 
which rose upon his right, and against which he 
supported himself while he recovered breath. 


140 A SECRET QUEST. 

Again and again he nearly lost his footing, and 
was within an ace of falling headlong into the tor- 
rent that roared on his left. But still he strug- 
gled on, dimly conscious of the path suddenly 
turning at right angles, and that he had to sink 
down upon his knees as a resistless blast came 
down the narrow gorge and nearly hurled him 
into the torrent. It was only after the wind had 
ceased for a few moments, and he had contrived 
to get a few yards further, that he fully realized 
the peril through which they had passed ; for he 
had been crossing a narrow stone bridge, and his 
way upward was now with the great wall of rock 
on his left, the path running on the opposite side 
of the stream. 

The rest of his struggle onward was a wild con- 
fused effort through the fierce, hissing snow and 
the beating blasts, till, utterly exhausted, he stood 
ready to sink down with his burden, listening to 
a sharp sound which kept coming from somewhere 
on his left. He was too much stunned now to 
realize what the sound could be, and with the 
dreamy sensation that attacked him increasing 
fast, his next act was almost as much mechanical 
as the result of mind. It was, however, the sav- 
ing of their lives. By a great effort he managed 
to get the flask he carried from his breast, and 
hold the top in his teeth as he screwed the vessel 
round till a portion of the potent spirit gurgled 
between his lips and gave him power to think as 
the sound came again, apparently close at hand. 

It was a door banging heavily as it was caught 


A SECRET QUEST. 


I41 

by the blast. Struggling on once more in the 
coming darkness, he found himself sheltered fully 
from the furious blast, and wading along knee 
deep in snow. Another sharp sound, as he stum- 
bled close up to some building and received a 
sharp blow; but not from the door. A shutter 
had been torn loose from its fastenings, and was 
swinging to and fro. 

Now, for the first time, he let Hester sink from 
his arms down into the soft snow, then pressed on 
and wildly dashed his hands through the window, 
thrust in his arm, succeeded in finding the fasten- 
ing, and pressed the casement open. 

He had just strength enough to get back to 
where Hester lay, to carry her to the window, to 
let her glide through, and to climb in before a 
curious sensation of giddiness attacked him; and 
he fell heavily on the floor. 

It was some minutes after he came to before he 
could make out where he was. Instinctively he 
sought the flask to drink a few of its invigorating 
drops, every one of which seemed to send life 
through his exhausted frame. Then came the 
reality like a flash. Groping about through the 
darkness, he felt for the window, and closed it 
against the snow, which had drifted in, and which 
still came floating through the broken pane. 

His next thought was to obtain light, and his 
wet, half-frozen hands fumbled for his match-box ; 
but he wasted several matches before one blazed 
Up, when he saw that they were in a low, bare 
dining-room, with roughly frescoed walls. A 


142 


A SECRET QUEST. 


long table ran down the centre on which were 
piled bent wood chairs. 

Bat something else caught his eye; as the match 
died out he felt his way toward it, and then ran 
his hand over the icy sides of a huge earthenware 
stove till he found the doorway. He threw it 
open, and to his delight found it full of wood and 
ready for lighting. 

Fortunately the wood was dry, and the pine 
twigs rapidly caught from the next match he lit, 
blazed up, and shed a long glare along one side of 
the room as they burned with a humming roar. 

His next task was to tear down a curtain and 
stuff it through the broken pane. Then bending 
over Hester, he lifted her up and placed her in an 
arm-chair by the stove, where he let her head fall 
back over his arm. He trickled a few drops of 
brandy between her lips, tenderly laid her head 
back against the chair back, and began to shake 
away the clinging snow, which fell around, melted 
slowly, and sank into the white boards to form 
dark patches. 

He took off her hat and scarf, to lay them on 
the stove, where they began to steam; and the 
fire sending forth now an enlivening glow, he 
spread her dress wide, stopping from time to time 
to gaze rapturously at the beautiful face. With 
loving reverence he loosened her hair, which fell 
in clusters heavily clogged with snow. 

“ My darling!” he whispered; “ my own, now— 
my very own!” and he caught up first one cold 
hand and then another to break away the buttons 


A SECRET QUEST. 


143 


and slip off the clinging wet gloves, holding the 
benumbed fingers between his palms, and chafing 
them and kissing them by turns. 

“ How beautiful !” he said, hoarsely, as he bent 
over her; then drew aside, lest he should inter- 
cept any of the wafmth, for the glow from the 
humming stove seemed to send a flush to the pal- 
lid cheeks. “ Yes, mine now !” he whispered again, 
“ my very own. ” 

The tempest roared round the place, and from 
time to time strange sounds as of thunder boomed 
close at hand, while the shutters rattled and the 
place literally quivered and seemed threatened 
with destruction at every blast. Every now and 
then it was as if the spirits of the air had swooped 
down from the mountain and were careering 
round and round the building, yelling and shriek- 
ing, the sounds dying slowly away, as if the rout 
had swept on down the valley. But Anderson 
heard nothing, saw nothing but the face with the 
warm glowing light about it as it lay silent before 
him, till he came back from his wild dream of 
adoration to the reality of their position; and a 
sensation of dread assailed him. 

For she was so long insensible. Was there dan- 
ger? He took one of her hands in his again, and 
held it to his lips. It was cold ; but it was not the 
clammy coldness of approaching death, and he 
took heart again. He turned to the stove, and, 
with the steam rising from his garments, picked 
up from a great basket piece after piece of pine 
root to throw into the centre, each piece as it 


144 


A SECRET QUEST. 


caught sending forth a fresh glow of light into 
the long, blank room. 

Turning to Hester, once more he rearranged 
her wet dress and shook out her long hair, now 
drying fast and glistening in the golden light. 

As he bent over her, the recollection of his mis- 
sion came to him for a moment, but he laughed as 
he thought that it would prove easy now. Hester 
would be his, and once recovered, he cared little 
for the Colonel’s anger should he discover the 
truth. 

At last he began to grow uneasy at the long- 
continued stupor in which Hester was plunged. 
He took her hands in his once more, to be re- 
assured directly; for they were now warm, and, 
unable to resist the temptation any longer, he 
knelt beside her and pressed them to his lips. 

“Hester, dearest,” he whispered, and at the 
sound of his voice she moved uneasily and made 
an effort to sit up, but sank back with a sigh of 
uneasiness. 

“Look up,” he whispered; “Hester, dearest; 
the danger is past.” 

She opened her eyes wildly and gazed at him, 
as if unable to comprehend the meaning of her 
position there. Then she glanced at the stove, 
with its glowing interior, and drew her hands 
from his grasp to hold them to her aching fore- 
head. 

“Do not be alarmed,” he said, tenderly. “We 
are in safety now. Hester ” 

He ceased speaking, for there was a fiercer blast 


A SECRET QUEST. 


145 


than ever as the wind seemed to seize the build- 
ing and shake it, while, as it passed on, shrieking 
and moaning, the window was shaken in turn, and 
then came a sharp tapping on one of the snow- 
covered panes. 

Anderson sprang to his feet, startled for the 
moment, but attributing the sound to a drift of 
snow being driven sharply against the window. 
He was turning away again when the tapping 
was repeated, and a voice shouted, “Open!” the 
cry sounding smothered in the rushing wind. 

Anderson muttered an oath and stepped angrily 
to the window, which looked black to him till he 
was close up, when he could make out a white 
face indistinctly through the blurred pane. 

“Quick, man, open!” was shouted. “Open the 
door. ” 

As if forced by the imperative nature of the 
tones, Anderson unfastened the window. 

“What is it? Who are you?” he cried. “Mr. 
Deane?” 

“Yes, Mr. Deane,” said Adam, hoarsely. “Do 
you want us to perish in the snow?” he added as 
his eyes seemed to glow in the light cast by the 
stove. 

“Get in quickly,” came from behind him. 
Deane clambered in, covered with snow ; and as 
Anderson drew back he was followed by Frant and 
the guide. 

“You are safe, then?” said Frant, shortly, for 
Deane was silent, gazing from Anderson to Hes- 
ter and back, while his breath seemed to come 
10 


146 


A SECRET QUEST. 


heavily, as if he were still suffering from some 
great exertion. ^ 

“Yes,” said Anderson; “we had a terrible 
struggle; but we reached here at last.” 

“That’s right,” said Frant, cynically. “Shut 
that window, Valter, my lad,” he continued. 
“ Hope you are none the worse for this terrible 
storm, Miss Denton.” 

Hester sat back in her chair, gazing at him as 
if she had not heard his words. Frant looked 
sharply at Anderson and then at Deane. 

“ I think she hardly understands you yet,” said 
Anderson. “We had a terrible adventure.” 

“ So had we,” said Frant, gruffly. “ Here, Val- 
ter, ring the bell and order some food ^nd brandy. 
Heavens! what a night! Come, Deane, man, get 
nearer the stove, for we are fast.” 

“And the Colonel?” said Deane, gravely. 

“ God help him !” replied Frant. “ I’m a strong- 
ish fellow, but I can’t go back yet. What do you 
say, Valter?” 

“ It is impossible, herr ; we should fall and be 
buried in the snow.” 

“Of course we should; but ring, man — ring for 
the people — or we shall be having murder done,” 
he added to himself as he saw his companion’s 
wild looks. 

“There is no one here, herr,” replied Valter. 

“ No ; I had to break in, ” said Anderson, hastily, 
and resuming his customary suave way of speak- 
ing; “how, I cannot tell, but I succeeded in strug- 


A SECRET QUEST. 


147 


gling up here. At one time I thought we must 
have perished.” 

“Well, you found good quarters,” said Frant, 
gruffly. 

“Yes; there was the stove and firewood.” 

“But, Miss Denton, do you feel ill?” continued 
Frant. 

She did not reply, but looked from one to the 
other in a strangely confused way. 

“And the Colonel,” said Anderson, eagerly; 
“have you seen him?” 

“ We left him in the hut yonder, and came on to 
search for you, ” said Frant ; “ and you are both safe. 
Cold, Adam, lad?” 

Deane made no reply. He could not speak ; his 
brain swam with the agony he felt. A wild desire 
to fling himself on Anderson, seize him by the 
throat and strangle him, had nearly mastered. 

“Come up to the stove, man,” said Frant, 
sharply. “You, too, Valter, my lad; come and 
smoke. We shall be here for hours yet. Come, 
let’s have some brandy. I’d give anything for 
food. Miss Denton, I want to behave like a 
gentleman, but this is a case when breaches of 
etiquette might be forgiven. Would you mind 
if I lit my pipe?” 

Hester looked at him wildly again, shivered, 
and cowered toward the open stove. 

“I don’t understand all this,” muttered Frant, 
who crossed to where Deane was standing and took 
him by the arm. “ Come up to the fire, man,” he 


148 A SECRET QUEST. 

whispered, “ and for heaven’s sake contain your- 
self. You look as if you were going mad.” 

Deane drew a long breath and then gazed pite- 
ously in his friend’s eyes. 

“ I feel so,” he said, softly ; “ but it’s over now. ” 

“Miss Denton — pray sit still,” cried Anderson 
just then, for Hester had risen from the seat and 
was looking wildly about the place. 

As Anderson spoke she turned upon him sharply, 
her face deeply flushed, and a curious light in her 
eyes. But she looked from him to Frant directly, 
and gave her head a sharp twitch. 

“Open the window and look out,” she said, 
quickly. “We must be going very fast. Where 
do we stop next?” 

“Are you unwell?” said Frant, taking a step 
forward and holding out his hand. 

“ No,” she said, quietly; “but I don’t like — such 
a terrible speed, it — it ” 

She stopped, held her hand to her forehead arid 
closed her eyes. 

“ I think she is a little overcome by the exertion 
and excitement,” said Anderson, quietly. “My 
dear Miss Denton, will you sit down again near 
the fire?” 

She looked at him quickly, her hand falling to 
her side as he spoke, but she turned away from 
him again and looked inquiringly at Frant. 

“Is papa in the smoking carriage?” she said. 
“ He is so fond of a cigar. And ” 

She reeled suddenly and would have fallen but 
for Frant’s ready hands. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


149 


'‘Poor little lady; she is half delirious, ” he said. 
“Here, Valter — Deane — this must be the hotel; 
see if there’s a couch or a mattress and some 
blankets.” 

“Yes, of course, of course,” cried Anderson. 
“ Allow me, Mr. Frant. ” 

“Thanks, no,” said the latter ; “ she’s all right,” 
and lifting her lightly he replaced her in the chair. 
“ Perhaps you would not mind helping our man. 
Valter, can you get a light? And, for goodness’ 
sake, try and find some wood.” 

Valter nodded. Signing to Anderson to follow 
him, he went to the door. 

Anderson hesitated, glanced from one to the 
other, and then followed the guide into the open 
hall. 

“ Pull yourself together, man, and don’t glower 
like that, ” said Frant, in a quick whisper. “ Help, 
and act like a human being. It’s very ugly; but 
what can we do?” 

“ Kill him !” said Deane, as if speaking to himself. 

“What for — something you fancy? Come, act 
like a man.” 

“Candles, herr,” cried Valter, eagerly, as he 
hurried in with a couple. “ And there is an ample 
supply of wood. ” 

“ But, confound you ! a couch — a mattress — any- 
thing. Valter, man, see what you can find. Here, 
Deane, lad, stop here and mind Miss Denton does 
not fall forward ! I don’t think it will last. I’ve 
seen men so after a struggle in the snow before 
now.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


150 

Deane took his place and stood by Hester’s 
chair, hard and stern-looking as if frozen, neither 
speaking nor moving, but listening to the faintly 
whispered mutterings which passed the insensible 
girl’s lips from time to time. The noises made 
by the coming and going of the men seemed to 
rouse her a little, but only to sink into a state of 
stupor as the room became silent again. 

In a few minutes a couch had been found and 
carried into the room, to be placed by the stove. 
This was supplemented by an armful of blankets 
which Valter had brought. Many visits to the 
place had made him acquainted with its interior. 
In a few minutes Hester was gently covered by 
Frant, laid down totally unconscious, and fell into 
a heavy sleep. 

Valter made a couple more excursions, brought 
more blankets, glasses, and water, which he heated, 
so that hot liquor was mixed and drunk with 
avidity ; after which the little party settled them- 
selves close to the stove and commenced their vigil. 

A few words were spoken, but it was in a con- 
strained way, and soon all were listening to the 
rushing of the wind, Anderson, in spite of his ef- 
forts to preserve a calm exterior, starting and dart- 
ing a jealous look at Frant every time he moved 
to see if Hester was sleeping. 

Valter rose from time to time to gaze out at thej 
night, returning directly with a significant shrug 
of the shoulders, and ending by rolling himself 
in a blanket upon the floor. 

The wind howled and shrieked. There was 


A SECRET QUEST. 


151 

from time to time a heavy thud, as of falling snow, 
and Frant and Deane whispered together concern- 
ing the Colonel’s fate, the latter feeling full of 
self-reproach that they had made no effort to bring 
him on. But the guide declared it would have 
been throwing away their lives to try. 

At last all was silent, and a heavy breathing 
told that Anderson had yielded to the warmth and 
the hot brandy he had taken, his exhaustion mak- 
ing him the more susceptible. Deane looked at 
him with angry contempt, and then found, from 
the deep breathing close by, that the guide also 
was sleeping. In another minute Frant had sunk 
sidewise in his seat. 

It was a bitter vigil for Deane. He thought of 
all that had passed, and of the scene that night, 
till his brow throbbed and then seemed to refuse 
to think. His ideas became mixed up with the 
struggles of the day. He was fighting to get the 
Colonel on there from the hut, and then telling 
Frant that he should end by killing Anderson, 
though his love was now eternally at an end. 

But it did not seem to be Frant, but Valter who 
was pressing his shoulder. 

“Hist! don’t speak, herr; the lady is sleeping 
peacefully now. The storm is gone, and the 
morning is lovely. ” 

Deane started from his seat, feeling stiff and t 
cold, to see that it was broad daylight, the snow 
sending in a bright, cold glare. 

“Have I been asleep?’’ he whispered, excitedly. 

“ We have all been asleep, herr. But come, I 


152 


A SECRET QUEST. 


have some brandy; perhaps we can reach the herr 
Colonel and bring him on.” 

Deane glanced at Hester and Anderson as the 
guide roused Frant, who rose at once. 

“ I cannot go,” he said, in a hoarse whisper. 

“You must, lad,” said Frant. “The old man 
will have nearly perished. Bah ! — they will be 
both sleeping when we get back. Come on.” 

Deane obeyed, and they left the house by one 
of the windows, stepping down into three feet of 
snow. 

“ No, ” he said, suddenly. “ Go on ; I shall stay. ” 

“ And leave that old fellow to his fate?” 

“ You are going to his help, ” said Deane, quietly. 
“ If he had to judge between us, he would say : 
‘Leave me, and watch over my child.’ ” 

Wifti these words Deane turned, went back to 
the desolate-looking hotel, and after silently re- 
plenishing the stove, sat down to wait. 


CHAPTER XIX. 


Prom where he sat, he could just see Hester's 
rounded cheek, partly shaded by her dishevelled 
hair. An intense longing came over him to go to 
the couch, bend down and press his lips to it once 
by way of farewell — for it was all over, he felt, 
between them now. 

He had conceived an overpowering passion for 
this gentle girl, who had been everything that was 
perfect in his eyes ; and he had found her weak, 
coquettish — an ordinary type of frivolous woman, 
eager for admiration and ready to accept the at- 
tentions of this middle-aged man who was always 
at her heels. It was a miserable disillusionizing, 
and he sighed as he gazed at the couch. He told 
himself mockingly that men were fools, and he 
but little better than the rest. 

Then he turned his eyes upon Anderson, 
wrapped in his blanket, near the stove ; and a hot 
feeling of rage flushed up into his temples, while 
his fingers clenched till the nails were pressed 
into his palms. 

That they had been overtaken by the storm was 
plain ; but he could not believe but that Anderson 
had planned to leave the Colonel and hurry Hester 
on there. She could not have been a consenting 

153 


i54‘ 


A SECRET QUEST. 


party, he told himself. She was too gentle and 
true to forsake her father in such a time of peril. 
It was all that scoundrel’s work; and she, poor 
girl, had been half delirious with fear, shame, and 
exhaustion at being found in so compromising a 
position. 

Deane’s love for her was stronger than ever, 
though he was telling himself that all was over 
now. He had no right to reproach her. She had 
chosen between them, and preferred this man — 
ignorant, poor girl, of the fact that he himself 
would, in his manly chivalry, have died sooner 
than have compromised her in the slightest degree. 

Once more telling himself that he would play 
the part of guardian till the Colonel returned, he 
sat up again and glanced at where the lawyer was 
apparently fast asleep. Then, religiously avoid- 
ing the part of the room where Hester lay, he 
gazed out through the window at the dazzling 
slope of snow, now ablaze with the gold of the 
morning sun. The sky was of the most intense 
blue; not a breath of air was stirring, and the si- 
lence was profound. 

“ There must be a search' party up here soon,” 
he thought ; and then he began wondering about 
the Colonel. The cold had been intense, and un- 
less the entrance were covered by the drifting snow 
it was possible that he might have succumbed. If 
Frant and the guide returned with that news, what 
a terrible awakening it would be for her who lay 
there sleeping so profoundly. 

“ Poor girl !” he thought. “ Better have listened 


A SECRET QUEST, 


155 


to me — better have kept to my engagement of 
yesterday.” 

His eyes were fixed upon the half-seen face again 
and again, and the longing to press his lips to the 
wild dishevelled hair came stronger and stronger, 
till he found himself planning excuses for going 
across the room. She was evidently very ill the 
previous night, and nothing had been done; for 
help was impossible. But surely it was his duty 
now to go to her side — to touch her brow to see if 
she was feverish — to speak to her and ask if he 
could be of any service. It struck him, too, that 
he ought on his first awaking to have gone off and 
tried to find medical aid. 

But so sure as this idea came round, he drew a 
heavy breath and glanced at where Anderson lay, 
and felt that he could not leave her then. 

The intense silence continued, and thoughts 
came now as to their position. Help was not likely 
to come from the south, for no one would attempt 
to cross the pass after such a fall. Besides, it was 
known that the hotel was not yet opened. Only 
the people below, where they were staying, could 
send aid, and the pass might be so blocked that it 
would very likely be days before help could reach 
them ; so that, unless by chance there was food in 
the place, starvation stared them in the face. 

“No,” he said to himself directly after; “ Frant 
and Valter will find a way out somehow over the 
mountain. You shall live and be happy in your 
choice.” 

As he spoke, the desire to see that Hester was 


156 A SECRET QUEST. 

not suffering, and touch her hand lovingly for the 
last time, became uncontrollable. He rose from 
his seat in perfect ignorance of the fact that he 

^was being watched. For Anderson had started 
into wakefulness at a slight sound, and then had 
half covered his eyes with his arm, so that every 
gesture made by Deane had been seen. 

Anderson did not move as the young man crossed 
the room, stepping carefully over the bare boards, 
which creaked beneath his heavy mountaineering 
boots, till he paused by the couch and gazed down 
sadly but passionately in the sleeping face. He 
could see now that she was flushed, but a slight 
dew was glistening upon her white forehead. And 
as he gazed down at her, the feeling of bitterness 
passed away, and he knew that in spite of all that 
had passed he was her slave. The desire was 
strong upon him still to raise one of her hands and 
press it to his lips, but to him then such an act 
woudhave been desecration of his idol — the taking 
advantage of her helplessness. As she rested there 
in her youth and trust, there was a halo of sanctity 
about her which made him draw back softly and 
walk to the window, where he stood gazing out 
for some minutes trying to calm the beating at 
his temples. 

* A curious feeling of rage had suddenly taken 
possession of him as he thought of what might 
have been. He had condemned the woman he 
loved unheard, and without the right ; for he had 
never spoken. He had won no confession or 
promise from her. His acts, he knew, had been 


A SECRET QUEST. 


157 


those of some green and simple boy in his rever- 
ence for her whom he had worshipped. But for 
this man, who lay sleeping there, how different 
all might have been ; and in the mad passion which 
had come upon him he dared not look at his recum- 
bent form, lest he should be tempted to some folly. 

The cool air by the window calmed him at length, 
as he stood gazing out at the wondrous wintry 
scene; but he saw nothing but Hester’s face — her 
eyes seeming to look appealingly and full of re- 
proach, as if to ask him why he had condemned 
her almost upon his companion’s words. 

“ They say it is a madness,” he muttered ; “ and 
I must battle with it and try to see things as a 
sane man should. ” 

He closed his eyes and stood there in dreamy 
thought, seeing Hester’s face still, and leaned his 
burning forehead against the icy glass, till there 
was a faint sigh from the couch which made his 
pulses bound again. Turning softly, he went 
back, to stand bending over her, and to see that 
she had turned her head slightly, so that the morn- 
ing light shone full upon it; but she was still 
heavily asleep. 

Bending lower, and eagerly scanning her face 
as he sought to read her state — whether she would 
awake fevered and strange as on the previous 
night — he stretched forth his hand to lay it ten- 
derly upon her brow, when there was a sharp rus- 
tling sound behind him. 

Deane turned quickly just as Anderson sprang 
to his feet, and the two men stood face to face. 


CHAPTER XX. 


“The strongest wins!” was the thought that 
flashed through Deane’s mind. His nerves 
thrilled, and an intense feeling of satisfaction ran 
through him as he measured his adversary with 
his eyes and thought of how easily he could crush 
him down. 

There was something, too, in Anderson’s gaze 
which suggested that they two were enemies to 
the death. 

But Deane’s rage gave way instantly to some- 
thing approaching confusion, so utterly disarmed 
was he by his rival’s next look and the accom- 
panying words. 

“ Good heavens!” Anderson cried; “you startled 
me, Mr. Deane. I have been asleep, and for the 
moment I could not understand where I was. I — 
I — am I awake now? Of course,” he continued 
hurriedly ; “ I remember now. But Miss Denton?” 

Deane held up his hand. 

“Asleep!” whispered Andenson, giving a shud- 
der. “Oh, how cold I am! But stop,” he con- 
tinued excitedly; “she was ill last night; and 
where are the others?” 

“Gone to bring’ up the Colonel,” said Deane, 
feeling puzzled and confused. “ Miss Denton 
seems to be sleeping calmly though.” 

158 


A SECRET QUEST. 


159 


Anderson took a step or two toward her, and 
after a quick glance turned back and signed to 
Deane to follow him to the window. 

“ She does not look ill,” he whispered: “ it must 
have been from fear and exhaustion. I had a 
horrible struggle to get her here. I did not think it 
possible that such a storm could have come on so 
late in the year.” 

“ It is always winter in the mountains,” replied 
Deane. 

“Yes, of course; I had forgotten,” continued 
Anderson, with a shiver. “ Have you — oh, all 
right. I am not a brandy drinker, but it is life 
to one at a time like this. Here, take a nip. ” 

“Thanks, no.” 

“Ah well, I must,” said Anderson. “Fancy 
my sleeping through that horrible storm. Utterly 
done up, I suppose. But, look here ; we ought to 
go and seek for Colonel Denton. Let’s go at once. 
Miss Denton will perhaps not wake for hours.” 

“ Come, then,” said Deane quietly; and they 
went out into the hall, then stepped out of the 
open window into the snow. 

, “Ugh!” ejaculated Anderson, “what a place! 
And at this time of the year! But I oughtn’t to 
complain. It saved our lives last night, for I was 
pretty well at my last gasp when I reached here.” 

Deane made no reply, but struggled on through 
the snow, which was terribly deep. Farther on 
their task becfame more toilsome, and it was only 
by following the track left by Frant and Valter, 
whose experience had led them to take the easiest 


i6o 


A SECRET QUEST. 


way, that they were able to get along at all ; so 
that it was a full hour before they came in sight 
of the last refuge. A cheery shout from high up 
came ringing and echoing along the rocky walls. 

“ What’s that?” cried Anderson. “ It does not 
sound like trouble. ” 

“The guide,” replied Deane, pointing. “He 
has been up the side of the pass. ” 

They met close to the entrance to the refuge, 
from which the snow had been torn away and 
trampled down. Here Frant had shown himself 
as soon as Valter’s shout was heard. 

“How is he?” cried Deane and Anderson almost 
together — the former in a voice full of anxiety, as 
he thought of the question being asked again up 
at the hospice. 

“ Better. We were going to make a start as 
soon as Valter came back. Well, can we get 
down the pass?” 

“ No! There is only one way, and that is over 
the mountains by the col of the Schneeberg. ” 

“And the lady can’t do that,” said Deane, 
shortly. “ I don’t know that any lady could climb 
that. Ah, here is Colonel Denton. I hope ” 

“ Where is my child?” cried the Colonel. , “ Why 
have you left her?” 

“ She is quite safe, sir; we left her sleeping.” 

“Alone, up there in the mountains?” cried the 
Colonel, angrily ; and Anderson, who had pressed 
forward to speak, remained silent, preferring that 
Deane should bear the brunt of the old man’s 
anger. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


l6l 


We were anxious about you, sir, and she could 
come to no harm,’' pleaded Deane. 

“ Anxious about me — an old woni-out soldier ! 
Bah! absurd! You have deserted your colors, 
man ; and you, Mr. Anderson, why was she taken 
from here?” 

“Don’t blame me. Colonel Denton,” said An- 
derson, deprecatingly. “ I took her away for two 
reasons — to obtain help, and because I did not 
think her life would be safe in this place. ” 

The Colonel glanced at him sharply, but the 
words had disarmed him. 

“Well,” he said, sternly, “she is safe. Now, 
Mr. Frant, what does the guide say?” 

“ Impossible to get down the pass yet. We had 
better get up to the hospice, and see what can be 
done.” 

“See what can be done, man! I’ll tell you 
what to do. Set to work and knock up a coffin 
for me. I shall never recover last night’s work. 
Perished, sir, perished. Here, get on back,” he 
cried, as he stumbled through the deep snow. 
“ That poor girl will be in agony till she knows 
Ihe worst. ” 

“ I believe we shall find her still sleeping, ” said 
Anderson. 

“ And pray why do you believe that?” cried the 
Colonel, irritably. “ Do you take my daughter 
for a marmot, sir, or some other creature accus- 
tomed to hibernate. Look here, Mr. Deane — oh, 
great heavens ! — rheumatism ! I shall be racked. 
Mr. Deane?” 


II 


i 62 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ I am listening, sir.” 

“ Humph— didn’t seem to be. I woke up again 
and again in the night — hot and fevered in spite 
of the snow — dreaming and confused. I seemed 
to be in the retreat from Moscow, and before I 
could convince myself that I was safe from an 
attack of the Cossacks — I say before I could con- 
vince myself that all was the result of a disordered 
brain, I dropped off to sleep, and was dreaming 
the same thing again. Ah!” 

He slipped, and in trying to -recover his footing 
loosened a great drift of snow overhanging the 
torrent, down to which he was fast gliding when 
Deane caught his hand and dragged him up to 
the track they had made that morning. 

“Thanks,” he said, coolly, glancing back at the 
fierce torrent, which was dashing on, carrying 
heavy stones, and sweeping masses of ice and 
snow from where they had fallen during the 
night. “I’m a bit stiff this morning. By the 
way,* some one covered me with a macintosh last 
night. You, Mr. Frant?” 

“ No. You must thank Mr. Deane for that.” 

“ Humph ! Thank you, Mr. Deane. I believe 
that saved my life. Wonderful resister of the 
cold; but I would rather have had a blanket.” 

“I am sorry I did not come provided,” said 
Deane, smiling. 

“Ah; no one anticipated this. By Jove! what 
terrible walking; but make haste, gentlemen, 
make haste. We are forgetting that some one has 
been left entirely alone up yonder. No possibility 


A SECRET QUEST. 163' 

of any one getting there from the other side, 
guide?” added the Colonel in German. 

The guide shook his head; and now, evidently 
more at rest, the Colonel trudged on bravely; but 
the contraction of his brow and his compressed 
lips showed from time to time that he was in no 
little pain. 

For the most part the track made through the 
snow followed the regular path, but every here 
and there, in some sheltered spot where a ridge of 
the rock projected, the snow lay so deeply that a 
deviation had been made; and this proved to be 
such rough climbing that Anderson on one occa- 
sion, as he saw the Colonel totter, offered his 
arm. 

But the civility was resented. 

“Thank you, Mr. Anderson,” said the Colonel' 
sarcastically ; “ but I was thinking of helping you. 
Here, guide, give me a hand.” 

Anderson smiled; but it was not a pleasant 
smile; and he gave way to Valter. 

“ Ah, that’s better, ” cried the Colonel. “ Lucky 
fellow! I’d give something to be as young and 
strong as you are.” 

Anderson followed close behind them, and 
Frant stopped to fill and light his pipe, giving 
Deane a meaning look. 

“ Breakfast, ” he said. “ Why don’t you join'in?” 

Deane shook his head, and those in front passed 
round one of the rocky buttresses that jutted from 
the side of the path. 

“I say, old man,” continued Frant in a low 


164 


A SECRET QUEST. 


voice; “what is your real opinion of friend 
’Stopheles?” 

“I detest him!” said Deane, with energy. 

“Same here,” said Frant, puffing at his pipe. 
“ No opinion of him at all. See what an ugly look 
he gave the old man.” 

“ I saw him smile. ” 

“Yes; come along. What does the cockolorum 
say in Shakespeare about smile and smile and 
smile and still be a villain? Old man won’t have 
a very nice son-in-law. ” 

Deane started as if he had been stung, and gave 
his companion an angry look. 

“Can’t help it, old man. You may as well 
look the thing fairly in the face. It’s a rough 
ridge full of loose stones you’ve got to climb, so 
3^ou’d better tackle it like a man, not go on blind 
to the danger, and some time or other find your- 
self going headlong down into the valley of de- 
spair. I say, poetical, that — for me. Result of a 
morning pipe on an empty inside. Come, be a 
man.” 

“You mean well, Alick,” said Deane, slowly; 
“ but it is not kindness to lay rough hands on a 
hurt.” 

“Let’s lay a tender one on it then, old chap,” 
said Frant, holding out his big muscular hand, 
which was quietly taken ; and then they passed 
round the rocky buttress to see that the Colonel 
and the others were well on ahead. 

As they drew nearer to the hospice, both the 
young men wondered that they had succeeded in 


A SECRET QUEST. 


165 


reaching it the night before. Setting aside the 
perils of the snow-laden wind, and the risk where 
the path ran close along by the edge of a preci- 
pice, with the wind tearing down in its tremendous 
strength, they constantly came upon places where 
the snow had gathered hundreds of feet above 
them, clinging on the shelves and slopes of the 
pass till too heavy, and then thundering down 
in minor avalanches, sweeping everything before 
' them. 

“ Little short of a miracle how we all escaped, ” 
said Frant, coolly ; “ and you may as well keep an 
eye upward, old fellow, for there’ll be plenty of 
snowfalls along here for days to come. I don’t 
want to be covered and then washed clear down 
below. Lookout!” he yelled. 

As he spoke a quantity of snow dropped with a 
thud far above on to a ledge and then came down, 
gathering in strength just where there was a rift 
in the wall of the pass. Valter heard the warning 
thud at the same moment, and dragged the Colo- 
nel close in against the rocky wall, Anderson in- 
stinctively following suit. 

‘‘Ah,” said Frant as they went on, “that sort of 
thing will be going on for days under this hot sun, 
and as long as no one is touched, so much the 
better.” 

The open space where the hospice stood was 
reached soon after, and Deane had hard work to 
refrain from hurrying on first and entering the 
place. 

Valter was the first to climb in at the window 


1 66 


A SECRET QUEST. 


by which they had left, and then lean out to help 
the Colonel. 

“Confound it!” muttered the latter, querulous- 
ly; “and me so stiff. Can’t you open the door?” 

“Locked up, herr,” said the guide quietly. 
“ Your hand.” 

Anderson stepped close up and followed actively 
enough, as soon as the Colonel had passed through 
the opening; and Frant drew back for his friend 
to go next. They crossed the stony floor and en- 
tered the dining-room, hat in hand, just as the 
Colonel was speaking. 

“ Gone upstairs, perhaps,” he said. “ Not here, 
Mr. Deane,” he continued, passing the two young 
men, and going back into the hall to shout at the 
foot of the stairs. “ Hester, Hester, my dear, 
where are you?” 

There was a dull echoing sound in the blank 
house, and then he called again. 

“No one here, you say?” he continued, as the 
rest followed into the hall, looking curiously from 
one to the other. 

“No, herr,” said Valter, speaking in German, 
but perfectly comprehending the Colonel’s words; 
“ and every room is locked up except these two 
down here.” 

“Very strange,” cried the Colonel, uneasily, as 
he hurried back to where the stove still glowed. 
The blankets which had been used lay tossed here 
and there. “ You say you left her here.” 

“Yes,” cried Deane and Anderson together, 
“ asleep on that couch,” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


167 


“Search the house,” cried the Colonel, as if he 
were giving an order to the men of his regiment. 

This was soon done; for on ascending to the 
top floors, every door was found locked, while be- 
low it was as Valter had said — only two rooms 
were open. 

“ She must have gone out, ” cried Deane. 

“ Madness, ” said the Colonel. “ She would not 
have ventured through that snow. Mr. Ander- 
son, how could you leave her alone?” 

Anderson made a deprecating gesture, but was 
silent. Deane spoke. 

“We were to blame, sir; but as your daughter 
was in safety, our first thoughts were for you.” 

“Bah, man! What am I to a tender girl? 
Somebody must have been while you were away. 
Outside, and search for footprints. ” 

“No one could have come, herr, without our 
seeing him,” said Valter, quietly. “I know this 
pass from a boy. The upper part — the highest 
point — is closed ; no man could have come down. ” 

“ But are there wild animals?” 

“ Not here, herr. A few bears far away in the 
east.” 

“Out, and search for fresh footmarks in the 
snow, ” cried the Colonel ; and Deane hurried out, 
followed by Valter. The latter uttered a cry at 
the end of a few moments, and pointed to some- 
thing they had not noticed as they came back. 

For there, plain enough now they were sought, 
showed the footprints of a woman in the deep 
snow, The traces were distinct close to the hos- 


i68 


A SECRET QUEST. 


pice, but were lost directly after in the trampled 
snow of the track made by the men in going and 
returning. Here and there they reappeared till 
the wind-swept path was reached, where they once 
more disappeared, not a trace being seen in the 
patches of snow that lay all around. 

The Colonel seemed to have forgotten his pain 
and weariness in his anxiety, and, forcing himself, 
to the front, he hurried on close to the guide, 
Anderson keeping up behind, while, thanks to his 
activity, Deane kept abreast of the excited leader, 
making a new track for himself. 

“I ought to have seen the new track, herr,” 
Valter kept on saying in self-reproach. The 
Colonel was about to turn upon him, but repressed 
himself on seeing how eagerly the man sprang on, 
bent half double and noting every footprint. 

Twice more these disappeared, either from the 
rock being bare or through the crumbling down 
of snow from above ; but by patient search they 
were picked up again and the quest went on. 

“My poor child! — my poor child!” groaned the 
Colonel, who was rapidly growing exhausted. 

“Keep a good heart, sir, for heaven’s sake,” 
cried Deane, “we shall find her. It’s all plain 
enough.” 

“Plain enough?” groaned the Colonel. 

“Yes. She awoke, fancied herself deserted, 
and tried to find her way back to the refuge in 
search of you. We must have passed her.” 

“Don’t speak, man,” said the Colonel hoarsely, 
“I know.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


169 

He pointed to the torrent that rushed on faster 
than they could walk, quite a hundred feet below. 
“ She has slipped and fallen there.” 

“No,” said Deane vehemently. “I have 
watched every step, and they are still going on. 
We should have seen the marks in the snow where 
she slipped. ” 

At that moment the Colonel staggered, and 
Anderson tried to save him ; but Deane was first, 
caught the old man in his arms, and helped him 
to a wind-swept rock. 

“ Quick, Alick ! your flask. ” 

Frant already had it in his hand. 

“Precious little left,” he whispered; but the 
tiny dram within revived the exhausted man a 
little, and he drew himself up. 

“ Forward !” he said, but the guide shook his head. 

“ I have been looking carefully, ” he said. “ For 
the last quarter hour there has been no trace. ” 

“ Nonsense, man !” cried Anderson. “ She must 
have gone on. You ^on’t half look.” 

“Will the herr lead?” asked Valter coldly. 

“No, sir, go on!” roared Anderson. 

“The herr is not my master,” replied Valter, 
turning his back to Anderson and addressing the 
Colonel. “ The snow is only marked by our feet,” 
he said respectfully. “ The lady cannot have gone 
further. Look. ” 

He pointed onward down the pass, where there 
was stretch after stretch of soft white snow in 
which, plain and deeply marked, were their own 
footsteps. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


170 

“He’s right enough,” said Frant, gravely; 
“there isn’t a trace of her. She has not gone so 
far as this. ” 

The Colonel glanced at Deane, whose eyes gave 
confirmation of the words. 

“ Then you think ” groaned the Colonel. 

He did not finish, but pointed down at the 
torrent. 

“ No, no!” cried Valter. “ Impossible, herr. I 
should have seen. ” 

“Ah,” the Colonel added, quickly, “you think 
something— quick, tell me at once.” 

The young men were exchanging glances of 
such meaning that it was evident the same thought 
had occurred to all, 

“ It is a painful thing to say, sir,” began Frant. 

“Speak, man,” cried the Colonel; “you cannot 
torture me so much by telling me the truth as you 
torture me now.” 

“They — we have all noticed,” said Deane, in a 
voice trembling with emotion, “ that the footsteps 
have not reappeared since we passed that great 
fall of snow which we saw an hour or so ago.” 

“My God!” groaned the Colonel, turning 
ghastly pale ; and he stood gasping for a few mo- 
ments. “Back!” he cried, wildly; “at once!” 

The order was not needed, for Deane had taken 
the lead. Closely followed by Frant and Valter, 
he was ploughing his way through the deep snow. 

Not a footprint was visible till they had reached 
the spot where the snow came down so heavily 
that morning. There were no marks till they 


A SECRET QUEST. 


171 

were some twenty yards beyond, when they met 
the first. 

It was plain enough. They continued up to 
where a ridge rose across the path. Deane 
stopped and passed his hand across his dripping 
forehead as he gazed down at the river, and then 
turned to follow Valter, who was already climb- 
ing over the newly-fallen snow. 

It seemed madness to go; for high above them 
drift after drift was wreathed and curved like 
waves ready to fall at a sound. In fact, here and 
there it was almost in motion. But there was a 
chance, and to test it the young men went on for 
a few yards. Then Deane uttered a joyous cry, 
sprang forward, and leaped into a hollow, where 
he had caught a glimpse of a dark dress. 

That cry was quite sufficient to loosen one of 
the impending curves of snow, which dropped 
with a heavy thud. 

“Are you hurt, herr?” cried the guide, strug- 
gling out and offering Frant his hand to extricate 
himself. 

“ Half stunned. But Mr. Deane — why did he 
shout?” 

“Hist!” whispered Valter, who was creeping 
closer to the rocky scarp of the huge niche in the 
pass. “Here — quick — Mr. Frant,” he cried, for- 
getting caution as he plunged on to where some 
of the loose snow was in motion; and with his 
help Deane struggled out, lifting the insensible 
form of her they sought. 


CHAPTER XXL 


No time was lost in bearing Hester up to the 
hospice, before reaching which shelter she gave 
signs of returning consciousness. She told them 
she had been toiling on through the snow to try 
and find the refuge where the Colonel had been 
left. She must almost have been in sight of the 
returning party when she sank down exhausted 
just before the warning shout was uttered by 
Frant, sufficient snow remaining before her to hide 
her from those who passed. Providentially the 
heap of snow which fell at the shout given by 
Deane was only light, and sufficient only to cover 
them till Deane struggled out. 

“111?” said Hester, wonderingly, about an hour 
after, as she lay on the couch in the great blank 
room, with her father seated by her, holding her 
hand. “ No, not ill ; but confused and strange. 
My head aches.” 

“Lie still and sleep,” whispered the old man, 
tenderly; and she smiled at him trustfully and 
closed her eyes. 

Satisfied at last that she was asleep, the Colonel 
rose softly and went across to the other room, 
where the four companions of his imprisonment 
had gathered round a stove. 

“ Is she better?” cried Deane, eagerly. 

172 


A SECRET QUEST. 


173 


“Yes, and sleeping peacefully,” said the Colo- 
nel, with a sigh of relief. “There is no fever. 
All she wants is rest and quiet.” 

“ Thank God !” said Deane, inaudibly. 

“And now, gentlemen,” continued the Colonel, 
“let me give a hearty grip of the hand all round. 
Yes, yes, my lad, and to you, too,” he cried to 
Valter. “God bless you for a brave fellow! I 
wish I was young again, with a regiment made of 
stuff like you.” 

Valter smiled as he returned the Colonel’s 
grasp, prouder than if he had received a valuable 
present. 

“ That’s more English than a long speech,” said 
the Colonel, merrily, “ and means more. There, 
gentlemen, that was my first business. Now for 
the second. I am ravenous. ” 

“Oh, that’s modest,” cried Frant, exhaling a 
great puff of smoke. “ I’m wolfish.” 

“ Well, is there nothing to be done?” 

Valter said something in German which the 
Colonel just grasped. 

“ Then, in heaven’s sake, break in. Never 
mind the proprietor’s objections; I’ll pay for 
them.” 

“But the cellar, old chap,” cried Frant. 
“Surely they haven’t carted the wine back down 
• the valley — pagged it, I mean. ” 

“Oh, no, herr; there’s plenty of wine here.” 

“ Then wh 5^ didn’t you say so at once. Here, 
Colonel Denton, you’re in command; order out a 
burgling squad. ” 


174 


A SECRET QUEST, 


“One moment,” he said, smiling, but they saw 
the tears in his eyes as he spoke, and he went back 
into the dining-room and returned. 

“Quite well,” he whispered, “sleeping beauti- 
fully. Bah! how weak I am,” he cried, blowing 
his nose loudly. “Want of food. Now then, 
pioneer, lead on.” 

Valter looked puzzled, but grasped the old 
man’s meaning directly, and taking his ice-axe he 
led the way to a door which he said was that of 
the kitchen. 

“ The herr will pay for the damage to the hotel?” 
he asked. 

“Of course,” cried the Colonel, and the instru- 
ment the guide carried was put to a use far differ- 
ent from that for which it had been made; for in 
Valter’s hand it became a wonderfully effective 
burglarious implement. A few lever-like wrenches 
sent the door open with a broken lock. Then the 
window was opened, the shutter thrown back, and 
the sunlight streamed in. Valter made at once 
for another door, which fortunately yielded to a 
touch of his hand. They found it was the larder, 
where they were greeted by the sight of rows of 
hooks intended for joints, empty dishes, barrels, 
and a couple of tubs. But there was neither 
schinkeiiy as the guide termed it, bacon, nor dried 
sausage. There was not a scrap of flour in either 
of the barrels — nothing whatever edible. Frant 
thrust his hand into his pocket, took out his to- 
bacco pouch, opened it, looked inside, and closed 
it again with a sigh. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


175 


“Not a very hopeful sight for hungry people,” 
said the Colonel. “ Is there no tea, sugar, or coffee?” 

The guide searched what seemed to be intended 
for a store-room, but there was not a trace of any- 
thing, and he led the way to the door of the cellar, 
which also yielded to the dexterous use of the ice- 
axe. 

As this door was flung open, showing a set of 
stone steps, the Colonel turned to Anderson. 

“ We must not use the wine if we find it. You 
are physician enough, Mr. Anderson, to know how 
bad that would be without food.” 

“Yes; but a little brandy would be valuable 
for our flasks.” 

“Well,” Frant continued, as the guide de- 
scended and lit his way with wax matches, struck 
and handed to him from time to time by Frant, 
who uttered dismal groans. 

“ Empty bottles, empty tubs, empty every- 
thing — company included,” he cried. “Here, 
let’s go up and have a smoke. Got plenty of 
cigars. Colonel?” 

“Oh yes, enough,” said the old man testily, as 
they went back into the room they had warmed. 
“ We can’t stay in this miserable place and starve. 
Come, guide, surely there is a way over the 
mountains.” 

“Every way is blocked with snow, herr,” re- 
plied the guide ; “ but if any of the gentlemen will 
come I will try.” 

“ But how are we to get my daughter over.” 

The guide shrugged his shoulders. 


176 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ It would be impossible, herr. We must stay 
here till a way is cut through the snow or the 
thaw comes.” 

“Oh, not so long,” said Frant. “I say, Adam, 
old fellow, we shall have to do the shipwrecked 
mariner business and cast lots, unless Mr. Ander- 
son will volunteer. ” 

“Then the place is quite empty,” said the Col- 
onel in dismay. 

“Yes, sir,” cried Frant, laughing, “except fur- 
niture. ” 

“We will see what we can do, sir,” said Deane. 
“ Frant, you will come with us?” 

“ You may depend upon it I am not going to sit 
down and starve,” replied Frant; and Deane 
turned to the guide with an inquiring look. 

“ While there is this snow hanging loose on the 
mountains, herr,” said Valter quietly, “it is like 
madness to go; but we have our rope, and we can- 
not stop here without food. I am ready. ” 

“ Which way shall we try?” 

“ Who can say, herr? We must go and try till 
we can find a way down.” 

As he spoke, there was a dull distant roar which 
increased till it was like thunder. Finally there 
was a deafening crash followed by a deep rever- 
beration. ^ 

“Great heavens! — what is that?” cried the Col- 
onel. 

“ Snow which falls so late as this, herr, cannot 
stay. It is all on the move in the high slopes. 
A handful sends great fields falling. ” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


177 


“The man is right,” cried the Colonel, eagerly 
peering from the window; “ it is like madness to 
stir under the treacherous slopes. You cannot 
go.” 

“It is a case of must, sir,” replied Deane, 
smiling. 

“Indeed, yes,” said Anderson, who had for 
some time been silent. “We have warmth and 
shelter; but we must have food.” 

“ Qui dort dine^'" said Frant carelessly. “ Seems 
to me that it’s a fine chance for an experiment in 
hibernation. Let’s go to roost till they come 
from below to root us out. ” 

“ For goodness’ sake, Alick ” 

Deane did not finish his speech, for the Colonel 
turned upon them angrily. 

“Look here, my good sir,” he cried; “I have 
passed over half my life in India, and have re- 
turned shattered in health. A man can’t have 
bad health without its affecting his disposition, 
and I have — I own it — a devil of a temper some- 
times.” 

“Oh, it was only a joke, sir,” said Frant, 
apologetically. 

“ But it’s not a time for joking, sir.” 

“And in extremely bad taste,” added Anderson. 

“Will you have the goodness to let me finish 
what I was saying, sir?” cried the Colonel, hotly. 

“ I beg pardon. ” 

“ When I am unwell I cannot restrain my irri- 
tability,” continued the Colonel, “and I am stiff, 
rheumatic, and feverish now, in addition to being 
12 


178 


A SECRET QUEST. 


famished. I warn you, Mr. Frant, that another 
remark like that will — will — There, there, I will 
not be angry at such a time. Look here, gentle- 
men, we must have an attempt made to obtain 
food. Where is there the best chance — the nearest 
place?” 

“ Nothing nearer or more accessible than the 
hotel, sir, and your own home,” cried Deane. 

“Then, in heaven’s name, come on, gentle- 
men.” 

“No,” said Deane, quietly. “Your place is 
here, with Miss Denton. 

“ But I will not remain inactive. ” 

“You will be doing us more good, sir, than by 
coming with us.” 

“ And I will go with them. Colonel Denton. ” 

It required an effort, but it was a case of emer- 
gency, and Deane spoke out. 

“ No, sir. Have the goodness to stay with Colo- 
nel Denton. You are something of an invalid, 
and the venture requires all the strength and activ- 
ity of young men.” 

Anderson bit his lip, and he bit it harder as the 
Colonel took Deane’s hand. 

“God bless you, my lad!” he said, warmly. 
“I’m proud of my young fellow-countryman. 
You are quite right ; and I hate settling down to be 
an old man. There’s all the spirit, even if the 
muscles are wanting. Can I help you?” 

“Yes, sir — by watching over your daughter,” 
replied Deane. “We are going, and it is what you 
soldiers would call a forlorn hope. If we can get 


A SECRET QUEST. 


179 


over the mountains, we shall not be long before 
we return with help and food. If we do not get 
over, you will see us back here before long. ” 

“ But you will get over, my lad, I feel sure.” 

“ I wish I did, sir. If we do not return within 
two days ” 

“What?” 

“You must, with Mr. Anderson’s help, make an 
effort to get down the pass, guarding yourselves 
against the danger of the falling snow.” 

“ But where will you be then?” 

“Heaven knows, sir.” 

“ Is the danger so great?” 

Deane shrugged his shoulders. 

“ The danger is as great to sit here in inaction 
and starve. ” 

“ Oh, but I cannot let you venture. ” 

“Surely Mr. Deane is exaggerating,” said An- 
derson, blandly. 

“ I hope I am, sir. ” 

“The herr has spoken the truth,” said Valter, 
gravely. “ We Swiss would not stir at a time like 
this unless there was some one in danger.” 

. “ But ought I to let you go on such a perilous 
errand?” said the Colonel. 

“ You would not keep back your soldiers if it 
was a call of duty, sir,” said Deane, smiling; and 
Anderson felt a pang of jealous rage run through 
him as he saw how warm a feeling was springing 
up between his rival and the Colonel. 

But he calmed down as he thought of his posi- 
tion — alone with the Dentons, and with the favor- 


l8o A SECRET QUEST. 

able opportunities for advancing oi\e or the other 
of the objects he had in view. 

“ Then you will go,” said the Colonel. 

“Yes, sir; we must go. We have gone through 
plenty of perils for pleasure’s sake. We must go 
through some now for duty. ” 

“Are we in danger?” said a quick, eager voice; 
and all stared to see Hester at the door. 

“ Ah, my child!” cried the Colonel. “Better?” 

“Yes, the feeling of confusion has gone off 
now. It was as if I had been taking a sleeping 
draught. I don’t quite understand where we 
are. ” 

“Oh, only in the hospice. Miss Denton,” said 
Anderson, eagerly. 

The Colonel gave him a sharp look. 

“We are shut in, my darling, by the snow. 
The pass is blocked. ” 

“ But you talked about danger,” said Hester, and 
she looked quickly at Deane, colored, and turned 
her eyes upon her father. 

“Well, snow is a little dangerous sometimes, as 
you know ; but our friends here are going to try 
to find help.” 

“Yes,” said D ane, quietly; “and the time is 
passing. Are you both ready?” 

For answer Valter slung his coil of rope over 
his shoulder, picked up his ice-axe, and strode to 
the door. 

“ Ready? yes!” said Frant, cheerily. “ I’ll order 
dinner at the hotel. Colonel Denton. Miss Den- 
ton, au revoir, Mr. Anderson, there’s plenty of 


A SECRET QUEST. l8l 

wood in the left hand cellar. The post of stoker 
is one of honor at a time like this.” 

Anderson nodded and tried to smile. Deane 
took up his hat and turned toward the door, not 
daring to look at Hester. 

“Don’t leave us like that, Mr. Deane,” said 
the Colonel, warmly, as he extended his hand. 
“ Thank you, and au revoir. Hester, my dear, 
wish him good speed.” 

“I do,” said Hester, quietly, as she raised her 
hand, which was eagerly grasped and earnestly 
pressed, the contact sending a thrill through both 
which made them forget the danger by which they 
were surrounded. 

Then Deane passed out of the place, and the 
Colonel stood holding his child’s hand, watching 
the three dark figures growing smaller as they 
traversed the snow. 

“Crying, my dear?” said the Colonel, suddenly. 

“Yes. I feel as if you had sent them to their 
death,” said Hester, in a voice so full of warmth 
and sympathy that Anderson felt as if fortune was 
fighting against him. 

“ Sent him to his death,” he said to himself, 
unconsciously quoting Hester’s words; and as he 
bent lower over the glowing opening of the stove, 
the light shone full in his face, and his eyes gave 
forth a lurid glare. 

For he was thinking of his opportunities, and of 
how for days past he had neglected the principal 
mission upon which he had come. In all proba- 
bility, he would be alone with the Colonel that 


i 82 


A SECRET QUEST. 


night, and in spite of hunger the old man would 
sleep from exhaustion. Would he sleep heavily 
enough to allow of the precious letters being pur- 
loined? 

Anderson smiled, for fate might be kind to him 
in another way — with Hester. Women were weak, 
he told himself, and he could remind her of their 
previous night’s adventure. 

“ He will not get back here again to-night,” the 
lawyer said, softly. “Perhaps she is right: the 
old man has sent him to his death.” 

“ Did you speak, Mr. Anderson?” said the Col- 
onel. 

Anderson started and looked round, to see that 
Hester was gazing at him in a half-frightened way, 
while as he returned her gaze he seemed to hold 
her eyes, and a feeling of exultation made the 
blood flush to his temples. 

“ I don’t think so,” he said, merrily. “ Perhaps 
I did think aloud, for my mind was full of ideas 
respecting a cosy room at my club in St. James’ 
Square, and snug little tables spread for dinner.” 

As he was speaking the Colonel thrust his hand 
into his breast, and Anderson involuntarily did the 
same — the one grasping his cigar case, the other 
his brandy flask, but not on account of their or- 
dinary contents. 

“Yes,” said the Colonel, peevishly. “I wish 
we were there now.” 

“ I don’t,” said Anderson, to himself. “ I’d suf- 
fer ten times the^ hunger for this night’s chance. 
Yes, the old man is sure to sleep.” 


CHAPTER XXII. 


The day passed slowly. 

Anderson was all smiles and good humor, striv- 
ing in every way to make the sojourn more bear- 
able. His was the task of mending the fire and 
getting together things from the other room to 
make that in which they stayed less bare. He 
was constantly starting topics for conversation, and 
nothing could have been more courteous and 
gentlemanly than his bearing toward Hester — to 
her trouble and to the Colonel’s annoyance. 

The latter sat by the fire impatient enough, 
fighting hard to contain himself ; for he was, as it 
were, all on edge. Every now and then, when he 
felt as if he must explode, he got up and went to 
the window to look out. Whenever he went to 
look out, Hester rose and followed him, to gaze 
out too. 

“ Nature. Alarmed and coy,” said Anderson to 
himself. “ Well, I like her the better for it. She 
cannot really care for that man.” 

“ I haven’t been so hungry since I was up in the 
hills,” ejaculated the Colonel, “when the supply 
wagon went over the precipice. It was during 
the Akeanar expedition.” 

“ Where you were hurt, papa?” 

183 


184 


A SECRET 'QUEST. 


“Now, my dear Hester, you know I was hurt 
there. I told you a hundred times.” 

“Yes, papa,” she said weakly. She looked so 
piteously in his face that he passed his arm round 
her, and they stood gazing out at the snow-clad 
mountains. 

“ Hungry, pet?” he said at last ; and Anderson, 
who was about to venture another remark, closed 
his lips just in time to prevent their words clash- 
ing. 

“A little, dear; but not so very bad. I am 
thinking about you. ” 

“Oh, nevermind me. I’m an old soldier, and 
used to starving; but I do wish we had a cup of 
tea or a glass of wine.” 

“ Will you take a little brandy?” said Anderson. 

“No, sir, thank you,” replied the Colonel, 
coldly. “ Spirits taken fasting are poison to me.” 

“Yes, of course. I beg pardon. It was the 
only thing I could offer you. Do you think it is 
of any use to try and search the place again?” 

“ No, I do not. There is plenty of wood, is there 
not?” 

“Ample for days,” said Anderson. 

“ Because I suppose we shall have to dine with 
Duke Humphrey to-night, and we must make up 
our minds to watch and doze for the next twelve 
hours. Confound the expedition! How could I 
ever have been such a fool as to come.” 

“It was unfortunate for Miss Denton that the 
weather should have turned out so bad.” 

“Hang his confounded chatter!” muttered the 


A SECRET QUEST. 185 

Colonel. “ Hester, my dear, can you bear a little 
smoking?” 

“Oh yes, papa; I should like it.” 

“Anderson, give me one of your cigars, and 
take one of mine. Thanks,” he continued, after 
the business of exchange. “ Now, if you begin to 
cough, Hetty, I shall really be sorry, for I must 
give the wolf a little tobacco, as there’s nothing 
else. ” 

“ I think I will not smoke, if you will excuse 
me,” said Anderson, glancing at Hester. 

“Then, if you don’t I can’t,” cried the Colo- 
nel, irritably. “For goodness’ sake, man, light 
up.” 

Anderson bowed and began toying with the 
cigar, as the Colonel bit off the end of his and sat 
frowning, heedless of the fact that his daughter 
had folded a piece of paper and lit it. 

“Might I ask,” said Anderson, smilingly, ex- 
tending his hand. 

“I beg your pardon,” said Hester, offering the 
lighted paper, which Anderson took. He con- 
trived to clasp her hand at the same time, and 
gave her a burning look as she hastily withdrew 
her fingers. 

“You really are sure that you will not mind?” 
he said. 

“Of coarse she will not, sir,” cried the Colonel. 
“ She knows we need it. Hah! ” he ejaculated, as 
he began to feel the soothing influence of the 
aromatic leaf, “we must make the best of it to 
make our imprisonment bearable. I’m begin- 


i86 


A SECRET QUEST. 


ning to regret that we did not accompany the for- 
lorn hope.” 

“ It would have been impossible for Miss 
Denton.” 

“Well, I suppose so,” said the Colonel, rising 
to replenish the stove, but Anderson started up 
and was before him. 

“Your own suggestion,” he said laughingly: 
“ mutual help. ” 

The day wore on, and Hester began to reproach 
herself for her fears. Nothing could have been 
better than Anderson’s manner toward her. It 
was always gentlemanly and considerate, and he 
devoted himself as long as daylight lasted to 
scheming little things to make the neighborhood 
of the stove more comfortable. 

“Yes,” said the Colonel, grimly, as he ceased 
his lionesque tramp up and down their prison. 
“Yes; all very nice, Mr. Anderson. You’ve 
made a drawing-room of the place; but I wish 
you could have turned it into a kitchen.” 

“I wish so, too,” replied Anderson. “I should 
have had no scruple about being cook.” 

“Confound it!” cried the Colonel half an hour 
later, as he took the cup from his flask; “only 
one more dram. Hetty, my dear, I don’t like 
asking you to sip brandy, but under the circum- 
stances — as medicine — what do you say?” 

“ No,” she replied, with a smile. 

“Hah!” sighed the Colonel; “ they say woman 
is weak. The weakness lies our way. I’m afraid. 
You have some brandy, Mr. Anderson?” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


187 


“Oh, yes; half a flask full.” 

“ Then I shall drink mine, for I am utterly ex- 
hausted. ” 

He tossed off the last drops in his flask, and 
replaced it before going to the window again, 
where he was joined by Hester, the pair gazing 
out at the dying light upon the peaks within view, 
while in the depths of the pass it was almost dark. 

As Hester turned with her father to retrace 
their steps, she shuddered at the aspect of Ander- 
son’s countenance, which seemed to stand out of 
the darkness and glow strangely in the reflection 
of the stove. His eyes actually glistened as they 
were fixed upon her. 

It was only a momentary impression, and he 
was talking to them both the next minute, speak- 
ing cheerily about the morrow. 

“We are going through the worst of the ordeal 
now. Miss Denton,” he said; “for I believe that 
before long we shall all drop off to sleep, and not 
wake again till quite late in the morning, and by 
that time help will have come. ” 

“Well, the best thing we can do,” said the Colo- 
nel, buttoning up his coat a little tighter, in a 
way which drew Anderson’s attention to the swell- 
ing formed by his breast pocket. “ Some animals 
sleep for months without food ; we ought to man- 
age for a few hours.” 

The evening was fast growing into night, and 
the silence of the place to Hester appeared appall- 
ing. The gentlemen had smoked till they were 
tired, and the conversation had flagged. She had 


A SECRET QUEST. 


1 88 

again gone over the adventures of the past night, 
and shuddered as she glanced at Anderson, feeling 
more and more that to be shut up there with him 
was to be in his power. Still she fenced with her 
thoughts, telling herself that they were silly fan- 
cies not worthy of consideration. 

Her musings were interrupted by their object, 
who had silently left the room and now returned, 
making the Colonel start up and betray the fact 
that he had been dozing. 

“ What is it?” he cried. “ Who’s that?” 

“It is only I,” said Anderson, placing a vessel 
on the mouth of the stove. “I’m going to make 
some water hot, and I should advise you to follow 
my example — have a glass of grog.” 

“Humph! Yes. Better than nothing. I will.” 

Anderson busied himself getting glasses, and 
where he stood all was black darkness, the vivid 
glow from the stove cutting across the room in a 
clearly marked ruddy line. 

In the midst of the silence which ensued there 
suddenly arose the pleasant sound of the kettle 
singing, and all sat waiting till a jet of steam 
poured forth into the room. 

“Hah!” ejaculated the Colonel; “puts one in 
mind of your little kettle, Hetty, with the spirit 
lamp. But there’s no afternoon tea this time, my 
dear. ” 

“ I shall enjoy it all the more next time, papa,” 
said Hester, laying her- hand upon his arm and 
watching Anderson. . 

A minute later he came back to where father 


A SECRET QUEST. 1 89 

and daughter were seated, with a steaming glass 
in each hand. 

“There, Colonel Denton,” he said; “that’s the 
best I can do. No sugar, and we are more than ten 
miles from a lemon. Still it is better than nothing. ” 

“Very good of you, Mr. Anderson — very good 
indeed. Thanks. Been worse, sir, if there had 
been the hot water, sugar and lemon, and no 
brandy — eh?” 

“ Far worse. And now, Miss Denton, ” continued 
Anderson, “ I have ventured to bring you this. ” 

“ Oh, no, thank you, ” she exclaimed. 

“ Excuse me ; it is very weak, and you are 
suffering. It may be the means of procuring you 
a refreshing night’s rest. I know it is not a lady’s 
beverage, but under the circumstances — what do 
you think, sir?” 

“Well, really,” replied the Colonel, “I hardly 
know what to say. It is very good of you ; but I 
shall leave it to Hester herself. Well, my dear, 
what do you say?” 

“I should prefer not to take it,” said Hester, 
firmly. 

“ Then that settles it,” said the Colonel, “ thanks 
to you, Mr. Anderson, all the same. But your- 
self — have you a glass?” 

“Yes; I mixed that,” said Anderson, quietly, 
as he carried Hester’s glass back into the darkness 
and took up another. “Your health. Colonel 
Denton.” 

“To our speedy deliverance!” cried the Colo- 
nel. “ Hah! that is warm and comforting.” 


190 A SECRET QUEST. 

Hester looked at him as he sat sipping the 
brandy- and-water, and then listened to a few re- 
marks made by Anderson, as he sat back in the 
darkness beyond the stove, and talked about^he 
peculiarities of the neighborhood. 

The darkness outside was intense, and as An- 
derson at last ceased speaking, a faint cracking 
sound from the stove seemed the only living 
thing in the great solitude. 

The Colonel was silent, and as, in spite of her- 
self, Hester turned her eyes in the direction where 
Anderson sat, invisible now in the darkness, a chill 
of dread came over her, for she felt that he was 
gazing fixedly at her. 

Faint from want of food, mentally disordered 
still by the feverish attack of the previous night, 
it was as if the wild dreamy state was coming 
back ; and with a shiver of dread she softly stole 
her hand to where her father’s lay upon the arm 
of his chair. It rested within the strong fingers 
which closed over it, and gave it a firm pressure. 

A faint sigh of satisfaction escaped her. She 
felt safe now, and for a few minutes sat gazing at 
the golden embers with a glow of warmth at her 
heart. Then, as if drawn there in spite of herself, 
her eyes turned with frightened gaze toward the 
place where Anderson was seated ; and again the 
impression was strong upon her that he was look- 
ing at her fixedly. 

The suffering this caused was the more keen 
from the fact that she could see nothing beyond 
that glow of light. All else was intensely black. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


19I 

and a child-like feeling of dread chilled her as she 
sat breathing hard, in the fancy that he was about 
to spring at her. 

She pressed her father’s hand once more, and 
there was the same firm return of her grasp, send- 
ing its comforting thrill through her. She deter- 
mined to end the painful silence by starting some 
topic of conversation. But no idea would come. 
Her lips seemed sealed, and with growing* agony 
she felt that the sensation of dread was once more 
creeping over her. 

Why did not her father speak? Why did not 
Mr. Anderson say something? Why did she not 
herself speak? These questions repeated them- 
selves; but there was no answer; and with her 
feverish nightmare-like sensation increasing, she 
once more sought for encouragement by pressing 
her father’s hand. The chill of horror increased 
so that her faculties were as if frozen, for there 
was no answering grasp. 

The Colonel was fast asleep. 

The knowledge that her father was sleeping 
heavily stunned Hester for the moment. She 
pressed his hand again and again, but there was 
no response. 

Then thoughts crowded upon her, and she was 
full of apprehension, amidst which came a pecul- 
iar fancy — one which grew and grew as she clung 
to the large firm hand which seemed to be her 
only stay. 

The idea was this: that her father had gone off 
to sleep like that on the previous night, and had 


192 


A SECRET QUEST. 


left her, so to speak, to the protection of their 
companion. She had then attributed it entirely 
to his exhaustion ; but now he had not been pant- 
ing and struggling through the deep and blinding 
snow. 

She pressed the Colonel’s hand again, but there 
was no return. His slumber was profound, and 
once more her eyes were turned to the darkness 
beyond the stove, as she strained her sense of 
hearing in the hope that their travelling com- 
panion had also fallen asleep. 

If she could realize this, she felt that she could 
wait patiently for the return of day, but there was 
not a breath. She could only come to one con- 
clusion : Anderson was seated there, screened by 
the gloom, watching her and gloating over the 
fear he knew that he inspired. 

In her feverish state it was terrible. She knew 
well enough that he had conceived a passion for 
her — that in his way he loved her — and it was hor- 
rible. She had never before achieved to the 
knowledge of what a man’s power might be. 
Gradually growing more excited by her fancy, 
she trembled in anticipation as she felt that she 
was there alone with this man; that her father 
was in a profound sleep from which she would not 
be able to awake him ; and that Anderson would 
choose this time to declare his insane love. 

Almost as she had reached this pitch of agony, 
which chained her like the paralyzing touch of an 
unhealthy dream, there was a faint sound, as if 
her silent companion had stirred. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


Hester’s heart seemed to stand still, and she 
this time checked the intense desire to look in 
Anderson’s direction, but gazed fixedly at the 
glowing embers. All was still again but the deep 
breathing of her father, and she could count the 
throbbings of her heart. 

She pressed the Colonel’s hand over and over 
again ; but there was no response. There was a 
terrible profundity about his slumber, and she felt 
by instinct that no effort of hers would arouse him. 

Once more there was a faint sound, whose effect 
upon her was to excite a desire to leap up and run 
shrieking from the room. But she felt powerless 
to stir, and as the noise was not repeated she 
drew a deep breath of relief; for a reaction had 
commenced. The sounds she had heard were 
doubtless made by their companion ; he, too, had 
no doubt yielded to the influence of the hot spirit, 
and was sleeping soundly. 

A long-drawn breath of relief again, and a rest- 
ful feeling came over her as she sat there, reprov- 
ing herself for her cowardice, and thinking what 
slaves weak people are to their imaginations. 

What was there to fear?” she asked herself. 
Nothing. Her dread ought to be for Adam 
Deane and his companion, who had so bravely 

13 193 


194 


A SECRET QUEST. 


gone for help. Forcing the current of her 
thoughts into another direction, a feeling of 
amusement stole through her as she dwelt on the 
possibility of her young aunt marrying again. It 
seemed possible, for there could be no doubt about 
her thinking a good deal about the stalwart little 
mountaineer — Mr. Deane’s companion. 

Mr. Deane’s companion! 

That brought her thoughts back into the line 
they would have ^followed before. This time they 
mastered her, and after a faint struggle she 
yielded, flushing slightly the while at flnding how 
pleasant it was to dwell upon Adam Deane and 
his pursuits — how interesting that fancy of his 
was, and what a satisfaction it would be if he 
really did discover those ancient gold workings. 

She flushed a little more deeply as she felt how 
much it interested her, and that she was wishing 
he might succeed. For Mr. Deane was so quiet 
and manly, and was always so respectful to her. 
How ready he was, too, when her father was irri- 
table, to pass it over without resentment. 

Then came thoughts of his behavior when the 
avalanche fell, and lastly there was his brave ef- 
fort to save them on the previous night. For 
aught she knew to the contrary, he was at that 
moment toiling up the pass and battling with the 
snow in a brave effort to bring help. A sweet 
sense of pleasure began to glow at her heart, as 
she felt that there was one great reason for all 
this — a reason that he would some day boldly tell 
— when he would say: “ Hester, I love you.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


195 


What should she say? 

“ Hester, I love you!” 

She started as if she had been stung, for there 
kneeling on her left, and now clasping both her 
hands in his, was Anderson. And as she looked 
down at him, horrified, it was to see a strange 
light in his eyes as the fire struck them sidewise, 
and giving them a weird aspect, heightened by 
the appearance of his face, half in the light, half 
in the black darkness of the shade. 

For the moment, as she crouched back in her 
chair, staring at him, she wondered whether she 
had heard those words, or they were her imagina- 
tion. 

She was not long left in doubt, for he continued, 
in a hoarse whisper: — 

“Don’t shrink from me, dear. I love you, in- 
deed — indeed. Listen to me!” 

“Mr. Anderson! Papa, papa!” 

“Hush!” he said, quietly; “he is sleeping. 
You will not wake him.” 

The chill that had paralyzed her before came 
with renewed strength at this, for Flester felt that 
the words were true. Slightlyrecovering herself, 
she dragged one hand away, and caught at her 
father’s arm, shaking it sharply. 

“ I tell you that he will not wake. Hester, listen 
to me. Forgive me if I speak to you suddenly 
in this unprepared — no, it is not unprepared,” 
he continued, almost fiercely. “You know — you 
have felt — that I loved you these months past. 
My eyes told you my deep, my eternal admiration 


A SECRET QUEST. 


196 

for you, when we first used to meet by the sea, and 
you felt how intense, how true my love was for 
you when I tracked you and followed you to this 
lone valley.” 

“ Mr. Anderson, is this a time to speak to me?” 

“Yes — the time given by fate.” 

“Father! father!” she cried, growing alarmed 
now. 

“Why do you try to wake him?” he whispered, 
hoarsely. “ He would not refuse me ; but it is 
not only his consent — I want yours. I want to 
feel that you will be mine — that you will love me. 
There, you see I, a strong man, am on my knees 
to you — pleading — begging. ” 

“Mr. Anderson!” 

“Listen. You say, is this a time? Yes, and 
you know it. Fate has thrown us together, as she 
did last night, when I held you in my arms, and 
won you from the death that was striving to tear 
you away. You do not recall that?” 

“ I know,” she said, in a startled, hesitating way, 
as she tried to recollect the scene of the past night, 
“that you took me with you to get assistance.” 

“Yes, and we were covered by the snow. I 
carried you, Hester dearest — in these arms — to 
safety — here. When, a dozen times over, my 
strength was failing^ when the storm was bewil- 
dering me, and you were insensible to its horrors, 
I would not fail, for I had you to save — your pre- 
cious life to win — and I fought on and on, love 
giving me strength, till at last I bore you to this 
place.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


197 


“You carried me here — here?” she faltered. 

“Yes: you do not remember? I bore you here, 
and won you back to life; for I love you, dearest.” 

Horrified by his words and manner, she tried to 
drag her hands away, but he held them fast. 

“You think I tell you of all this boastingly,” he 
whispered, “but it is not that. It is to tell 
you — to make you understand all I feel; for I 
know I am not young nor handsome — not one of 
the bright-faced boys who win women’s hearts and 
then, thoughtless, careless, cast them away. I am 
not smooth-tongued and romantic, for mine has 
been a hard life, Hester — a battle with my kind. 
I never thought to kneel to a woman like this and 
plead for pity, for I despised women till I saw you 
in all your sweet, innocency and beauty. Ah! you 
are turning to me at last. Hester, I saved your 
life; tell me that life is mine.” 

“ Mr. Anderson, this is madness.” 

“ Love is madness,” he whispered; “ but a mad- 
ness which leads to joy. Hester — love — we are 
alone. ” 

“We are not alone,” she cried, desperately. 
“Father.” 

“ He might as well not be here,” whispered An- 
derson. “ You see he does not heed you. But you 
do hear me. Hester, I tell you it is fate. You 
must listen, to me now. You will be my wife?” 

“No, no,” she cried: “it is impossible.” 

“ The impossible made possible by fate, who has 
these two nights overthrown us together alone. 
Come, let me plead to you tenderly. I would I 


198 


A SECRET QUEST. 


had the words to tell you how long and how dearly 
I have loved you ; but they will not come. ” 

“Mr. Anderson, this is cowardly — unmanly,” 
she cried, growing strong now as she felt how self- 
dependent she really was in the presence of the 
strange stupor in which her father lay. 

“You call it so,” he said, gently; “but it is my 
love that speaks.” 

“You insult me by persevering when I tell you 
it is impossible,” she cried. 

“Why?” he said, sharply. “Because you are 
engaged?” , 

“No, no,” she cried, wildly. 

“ Then it is not impossible. Even if you had 
been engaged you would have been mine.” 

“Mr. Anderson!” 

“Yes; you call my offer insulting. Have you 
no tender word — no gentle look to give me?” 

“ I tell you, sir, that all this is a cruel insult — an 
outrage. If my father heard you — as he shall 
hear — you would bitterly repent. ” 

“No,” he said, softly. “There can be no re- 
pentance — only a feeling of joy in the recollection 
that I have told the woman I worship how I love 
her.” 

“ I tell you once more, sir, this is a cruel out- 
rage. I cannot — I will not — give you any other 
reply. No! no! I could not — I never 'would. ” 

“ Not recompense the man who saved your life 
by giving that life to him?” 

“ Is it the act of a gentleman to bargain for what 
he has done, sir?” she cried, rising and dragging 


A SECRET QUEST. 


199 


her hands away. “ The poorest peasant here would 
have done what you did. ” 

“Perhaps,” he said; “but he would not have 
risked his life. You will be my wife, Hester?” 

She turned from him with so bitter a look of 
disgust that the blood rushed to his temples and 
retreated, leaving him cadaverous and pale. 

“ You do not mean this, ” he whispered. “ I have 
taken you by surprise.” 

“Yes,” she said, firmly. “I thought Mr. An- 
derson was my father’s friend, and would respect 
and save his child from the pain of a scene like 
this. ” 

“Your father’s friend — your friend — your lover, 
Hester. A man who will stand at nothing to win 
you to be his wife.” 

Hester seized her father’s hand, and bent down 
over him. 

“Father, father!” she cried; “why do you not 
speak?” 

Anderson smiled. 

“You do not heed what I say,” he continued. 
“ I want to win you by gentle words, Hester; but 
you force me by your cruel, bitter disdain to speak. 
What am I to say to you? — tell you I will wait 
years if you order me to. I am rich ;. your every 
wish shall be gratified. I will be your most pa- 
tient slave; give in to every caprice. You shall 
occupy a position in society that shall make others 
envious. Ah! you are relenting. Hester, my 
own!” 

She shrank from him with a repetition of the 


200 


A SECRET QUEST. 


look of disgust which stung him to the quick, and 
with an angry gesture he stood with heaving 
breast, biting his lips, and trying hard to master 
the sensation of rage which carried him away. 

When at last he spoke, it was in a husky whisper, 
which told of his emotion, and made Hester pass 
one arm about her father’s neck and cling to him 
in dread. 

“ Frightened?” said Anderson. “ Don’t be 
alarmed. You accused me of acts not worthy of a 
gentleman; but I love and respect the beautiful 
woman who is to be my wife!” 

“Your wife!” 

“Yes; my wife. It is fate, T tell you. I told 
you, too, that I would stop at nothing to win you. 
If the open honest tenders of the gentleman are of 
no avail, I must try other means; only I warn you 
— you force me to it. Do you not see yotir posi- 
tion, Hester?” 

She gave him a quick glance. 

“ I say, do you not see your position? You are 
a lady — stop, I will not speak to you like this. I 
appeal to you once more ; be merciful to me, Hes- 
ter, I love you. ” 

She turned away. 

Be merciful to yourself, then. ” 

She was still silent. 

“ Mind ; you must not blame me in the future. 
No; you will not. You will be too happy as my 
wife, and forgive anything, Hester. Do you not 
realize your position — as a lady accustomed to 
move in good society?” 


A SECRET QUEST, 


201 


She shivered slightly, but even now she did not 
realize the import of his words. 

“ You have driven me to it, ” he said, desperatel5^ 
“ Can you not see that you must be my wife. ” 

She clung more closely to the sanctuary she had 
taken, but made no other sign. 

“ That, even supposing it possible that your af- 
fections led you in another direction — say toward 
our mutual friend, Deane ” 

“Mr. Anderson!” she cried indignantly. 

“ Well, then, any other gentleman you might 
meet — and he were disposed to ask your hand in 
marriage, as I have done.” 

He spoke more and more slowly, making his 
words, as it were, cut home, while she stood at- 
tent, half wondering at what he might dare to say. 

“ You could not-accept him. I should not allow 
you to accept him. I should be driven, Hester, 
by my intense love, to say that man must never 
clasp to his breast the woman I dearly love.” He 
waited for her to speak, but the silence was pro- 
found, and he went on again slowly: 

“ For my own sake — to save my life from the 
pistol or poison, for I could not live without you 
— I should, in self-defence, have words wrung from 
me that would end his pretensions on the instant.” 

She turned upon him, her eyes full of wonder,’ 
and then began trembling as if some dim percep- 
tion of his meaning was dawning upon her mind. 

“You would have forced me to it, and your 
beautiful eyes are now asking me the question — 
What should I say? Well, ask me in words.” 


202 


A SECRET QUEST. 


He paused. 

“You will not? Then, once more, dearest, do 
we tell your father when he wakes in the morning 
that we ask his blessing on our love? No reply? 
Those beautiful eyes still questioning — still asking 
how I should win you from one — from a thousand 
would-be lovers? Well, I will tell you — hard as 
it is — but lovingly. Fate has given you to me 
already, dearest. I felt it; but I would not en- 
force my power till I had pleaded humbly for the 
love you cannot withhold.” 

He paused again, and passed his tongue over 
his parched lips — hesitating even then before he 
dealt his cowardly blow. But passion conquered, 
and^ in the belief that he would bring her to his 
knees he went on. 

“Fate has given you into my hands. Hester — 
love — wife — have you forgotten the events of the 
past two days?” 

“ No, sir,” she said, coldly. 

“You have, or you would not speak like that. 
Hester, have you not thought of how your future 
rests with me?” 

Again her eyes looked wildly and wonderingly 
into his. 

“ Last night — to-night — alone, here with me, in 
the mountains? You do not see? Why, a word 
from me would drive the most ardent lover from 
your feet! Hester, dearest, once more I tell you 
fate his given you into my hands, and you are mine 
and mine alone!” 


CHAPTER XXIV. 


A CURIOUS sensation of rage and contempt for 
himself came over Lawrence Anderson as soon as 
he had uttered the words. Something within 
him — perhaps the much-talked-of still small voice 
of conscience — whispered that he was acting and 
playing the part of a villain, and it only wanted 
the bitterly resentful look flashed from Hester’s 
eyes to half madden him. 

For if ever eyes darted a speaking look that 
said “Coward!” Hester Denton’s were those eyes 
before she turned from him in disgust, standing 
behind her father’s chair with her arm about his 
neck. 

Could. Anderson have felt that he had been suc- 
cessful, and that he had completely cowed her by 
his threats, he would have thought little of his 
words, triumphant as he would have been in the 
feeling that he had achieved one-half of his mis- 
sion. But the contempt and defiance in the look 
of one who seemed to have suddenly changed 
from a timid girl to a firm woman, stung him to 
the heart while it increased his admiration. 

He, too, had risen, and stood silent and motion- 
less, looking from her to the glowing stove and 
back, while the silence in the half-dark room 
grew more painful as the moments fled. 

203 


204 


A SECRET QUEST. 


A dozen times over he was on the point of 
speaking; but no words would come. He had 
sent his, barbed and poisoned shaft straight at his 
intended victim, and he had seen it strike and fall 
blunted from the armor of her woman’s innocency 
and strength. What was to be his next step? 

He moistened his parched lips again and again, 
and began to pace the room, to and fro, while Hes- 
ter furtively watched him, strong in her defiance, 
but trembling as she saw him pass from the black 
darkness of the end across the broad patch of light 
and disappear. 

Her greatest dread was lest he should come 
back behind her; but he confined himself to one 
path in front of the stove. As she listened to his 
steps she pressed the Colonel’s shoulder, and when 
Anderson’s back was turned she passed her hand 
caressingly over her father’s cheek. 

Still there was no responsive movement. He 
slept on deeply, the regular inspiration slightly 
raising her arm as she rested with it across his 
breast. 

Half an hour of agony such as she had never 
before felt passed — a brief space which felt to her 
like an age ; and then Anderson stopped suddenly 
before her, his voice husky and changed. 

“ Hester,” he said; “ Hester! can one so beauti- 
ful — so dear to me — be hard and cruel like this? 
There; I retract all I said. It was base, unmanly, 
villanous. I confess it. But have some pity on 
me; I could not restrain myself. A man such as 
I loves only once, and when his affection is set, it 


A SECRET QUEST. 


205 


bears all before it like some furious torrent. I 
tell you that for your love I could stay at nothing, 
yet when humbly, appealingly, I speak to you, 
every word is treated with cold contempt.” 

He waited, but she remained silent, and he 
went on. 

“ I will not believe that you are at heart so 
cruel. It is your girlish shrinking from accepting 
the man who worships you. For heaven’s sake — 
for pity’s sake — say one word to me; give me 
something to feed on — a gleam of hope. You 
cannot realize what a love like mine is. Speak to 
me or you will drive me mad.” • 

He paused again. 

“Do you not hear me? I ask for forgiveness 
for my words. Hester, dearest, I could not injure 
you, even in thought. What I said was wrung 
from me by your cruel coldness. There, dearest, 
you will listen to me now.” 

He took a step toward her to seize her hand, 
but she shrank from him with a cry of dread;, 
and he turned away with a gesture of rage, and 
resumed his hurried tramp up and down the 
room. 

“Very well,” he said at last, as he stopped 
suddenly before her. “You force me to speak. 
One of us two must be slave. I have prayed to 
you to let me be, but you turn from me with 
contempt. I shall beg no more. I can wait, for 
I am the stronger. It is your turn to plead now — 
when you like. You have not quite grasped the 
situation ; but you can think it out, and then you 


2o6 


A SFXRET QUEST.. 


will see that your future is in my hands — that 
you must come to me. When you do, I shall be 
merciful as you have not been to me, and ” 

Hester hardly heard his last words in the agony 
of a thought that had attacked her. She checked 
Anderson’s utterances now by a wild cry, as she 
frantically began to tear at her father’s throat. 

“What is it?” cried Anderson, excitedly. 

“He is dying — he is dying!” cried Hester. 
“Father! Dear father! don’t leave me now.” 

“ Hush, you are mistaken,” whispered Ander- 
son hoarsely. Thrusting away Hester’s hands, 
he rapidly unfastened the Colonel’s kerchief and 
collar, and laid his hand upon his brow and then 
at his throat. 

For the sleeper had suddenly begun to utter 
hoarse catching sounds and to struggle feebly, 
while he made ineffective motions with the fin- 
gers as if to tear away something that was suffo- 
cating him. 

“Help! what can I do?” cried Hester, excit- 
edly; and she leaned over and gazed in the now 
open and dilated eyes. 

“Don’t — don’t be alarmed,” cried Anderson, 
huskily. “ A slight fit of some kind. There, I’ll 
carry him to the couch. Yes, you can help me. 
He will be better lying down.” 

As he spoke, he lifted the old man from the 
chair, and half dragged him to the sofa which had 
been the daughter’s resting-place the night be- 
fore. The reclining position appeared to afford 
some relief to the gasping man, who in the inter- 


A SECRET QUEST. 


207 


vals of the paroxysms which attacked him began 
now to mutter incoherently. 

“ Is — is he dying?” whispered Hester, with a 
look of awe. 

“In heaven’s name, no! He — he can’t be,” 
stammered Anderson. “ It is a slight fit. He had 
no business to go to sleep in that position. There, 
you see, he is better now.” 

‘No, no,” cried Hester, wringing her hands; 
“he is worse — he is dying.” 

She flung herself upon her knees, and threw her 
arms about her father’s insensible form, but made 
no resistance as Anderson drew her away, saying 
in a trembling voice: 

“ Don’t do that. You are injuring him. Give 
him air, let him breathe easily. I don’t think — I 
can’t think — there is much the matter. ” 

“ Heaven help me 1” murmured Hester. “ What 
shall I do?” 

Anderson also was excited, and watched every 
change and movement that took place as the Colo- 
nel tossed his head from side to side, muttering 
the while. After a time he became silent, and 
seemed to drop into a heavy sleep once more; but 
it only lasted a few minutes. Then he grew more 
restless than ever, and, in spite of her repugnance, 
Hester looked wildly at her companion for help. 

“Try not to be alarmed,” he said, with his 
voice trembling, and Hester saw that* as he busied 
himself about her father his hands shook as with 
palsy. “ He will go off soundly to sleep again, I 
hope, soon.” 


2o8 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ And if he does not?” 

She could not continue the train of thought ; it 
was too bewildering, too crushing in its horror. 
At last she knelt there by the couch holding a 
hand, which kept on twitching convulsively, but 
no coherent answer came to anything she said. 

For quite a couple of hours this went on. An- 
derson divided his time between pacing the room 
and watching by the Colonel’s side, pausing now 
and then to wipe the sweat which gathered on his 
own brow, while more than once Hester heard 
him mutter excitedly to himself. 

Anderson was weighing over the position in 
which he was placed, and thinking of the Colo- 
nel’s age, his undoubted weakness from long resi- 
dence abroad, and the fact that for so many hours 
he had been absolutely without food. As these 
thoughts crossed his mind, the lawyer trembled 
in spite of his strong nerves. 

At last, as he was bending over the couch, he 
passed his hand inside the Colonel’s breast. Hes- 
ter gazed up at him wildly. 

He did not speak directly, for his hand was 
closely in contact with something which touched 
the back of it, and when he did give utterance to 
words his voice was changed. 

“ Beating more strongly, ” he said. “ The fit 
has passed.” 

“You — yob are not deceiving me?” whispered 
Hester. 

“Have some faith in me,” he replied with 
peculiar emphasis. “ I have told you the truth. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


209 


Now go and sit by the stove. You are shivering 
with cold.” 

“ No, no; I will not leave him.” 

Do as I bid you, ” he said sternly. “ Replenish 
the fire. He must not suffer from a chill.” 

Hester rose obediently, bent down and kissed 
her father, and went to the stove, glancing over 
her shoulder once, to see that Anderson’s back 
was to her, and that he was arranging one of the 
blankets over the sleeping man. 

Then, as she softly began to place some small 
fir logs in the stove, Anderson glanced back 
sharply, drew the blanket well over the Colonel’s 
shoulders, and finally withdrew his hand with 
the cigar case and pocket book, which he had ex- 
tracted from the sleeper’s breast. 

The former was quickly returned. With his 
heart throbbing with excitement, Anderson slipped 
the pocket book into his own breast. 

“ There,” he said, as he crossed to where Hester 
knelt by the stove; “go and satisfy yourself. He 
is sleeping calmly now.” 

“You are sure, Mr. Anderson?” 

“Yes, Hester. No, don’t flinch. I give you 
my word that I will not speak to you again as I 
have. The next words will come from you.” 

She drew herself up. 

“ You think they will not — now. But we shall 
see. One word more — are you going to tell your 
father what has passed to-night?” 

“I have no secrets from my father, sir,” she 
said, simply. 

14 


210 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“That is not true,” he said sharply, and with 
blunt emphasis. “Ah, I am not blind. But you 
will not tell him what has passed. Do you know 
what he has been suffering from to-night? I’ll 
tell you. An affection of the heart. This must 
have weakened him, and any fresh excitement 
might be dangerous. The Colonel is choleric 
enough without anything to spur him on. I 
should think twice. Madam, before I spoke.” 

She shivered slightly at his words, and he 
seemed to fix her eyes as he gazed at her. 

“ There, ” he said ; “ I shall leave you to yourself 
to think. Call me if he seems uneasy again. I 
will rid you of my presence, and light the stove 
in the other room. You need not be alarmed. I 
keep my word.” 

He took a box of wax matches from his pocket, 
caught up one of the blankets and two of the 
glasses from the table, leaving the one that had 
been filled for Hester untouched. As he reached 
the door he turned, and gazed back at her for a 
few moments where she stood trembling, and then 
passed out of her sight, leaving her to sink sob- 
bing by her father’s side. 


CHAPTER XXV. 


“One failure — one success,” muttered Ander- 
son, as he hastily ignited some of the combustible 
chips lying ready, and soon had a good blaze in 
the other stove, before which he knelt. After 
taking a little brandy from his flask, he drew out 
a tiny stoppered phial and held it up to the light, 
with his thumb nail pressed to the glass on a level 
with the top of the fluid within. 

Twice over he moved his nail to different 
heights on the side of the bottle, as if calculating 
or measuring. 

“Just about the same quantity as last night,” he 
said to himself. “Weak, I suppose, from want of 
food. The greater effect. ” 

He replaced the phial, and crouched down by 
the fire, gazing at the glow and warming his 
chilled hands. 

“Suppose he had died,” he said; “suppose he 
had died. Alone with me, no one else to look to. 
Bah ! I had forgotten the aunt. ” 

He glanced round the dark room, rose and made 
sure that he had closed the door, then returned 
and placed a chair before the open stove door, 
threw in more wood to make a brighter blaze, and 
with a grim smile of sativsfaction he took out the 
Colonel’s pocket-book. 


21 1 


212 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Strange work for me, my lord,” he said with 
a laugh, “ Lawrence Anderson, the celebrated 
criminal lawyer, picking pockets. Now then, let 
me see.” 

He opened the thick book and carefully exam- 
ined pocket after pocket, to find in the two first, 
crisp, clean. Bank of England notes to the amount 
of a hundred and fifty pounds, in addition to a 
few Swiss and French hundred franc bills. 

“Old man is pretty warm,” he said, as he re- 
placed the notes. “ Now then. Humph ! stamps. 
Ah — here we are,” he said, as he found an en- 
velope in the next pocket, containing carefully 
folded papers. “ I shall not have wasted the 
whole night.” 

He took out the folded papers with trembling 
fingers, opened them, held them to the light, and 
replaced them with an imprecation. 

“ Confound his prescriptions ! He’ll drug him- 
self to death some day. ” 

There were two more pockets to examine, and 
he took out and read from the first what proved 
to be, according to its heading, “ The best recipe 
for genuine Indian curry. ” 

“Ah!” he ejaculated, as he replaced this with 
a grim smile. “ Of course they would be in the 
innermost pocket. At last.” 

There they were : two letters in nearly new en- 
velopes, but on taking out the contents he saw the 
characters, written on foreign paper, were in quite 
a childish hand. 

He laughed. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


213 


“ Indian princesses don’t go to young ladies’ 
seminaries, it seems,” he said. “Now, then, 
beauteous brown one, who threatens our noble 
statesman, let us see.” 

He leaned more closely to the stove and read: 
“ My own dear papa. ” Anderson started. “Pet 
name, I suppose,” he muttered; but he turned to 
the last side and read: “Your loving daughter, 
Hester.” 

“ Damnation !” • 

He turned to the other letter, which also bore 
the same signature, but it was written, as the date 
showed, a month earlier, and he sat scowling, with 
the two treasured missives in his hand, probably 
the first written by his child from England to the 
officer thousands of miles away. 

Then a change came over the man. He turned 
them over, for they possessed a peculiar fascina- 
tion for him, which tempted him, in spite of his 
disappointment, to read them and hold them to 
his lips before he replaced them. Then he care- 
fully felt over the sides of the book to make sure 
that nothing was in the lining. 

“Disappointing — disappointing,” he muttered, 
dreamily. “ I made so sure that they were here.” 

He hastily thrust the book into his breast and 
went across the hall to the other room. 

Hester started up from where she was kneeling 
to look at him in a frightened way, which he 
ignored, and said gently: 

“ How is he?” 

“Sleeping, I think,” she replied. He went up 


214 


A SECRET QUEST. 


to the couch, felt the Colonel’s brow, and then 
took his hand. 

“Yes, sleeping quite peacefully. There is 
nothing to mind. He will wake in the morning 
quite well and refreshed.” 

Hester gazed at him fixedly, and he had hard 
work to avoid blanching before her searching 
eyes. 

“ Why do you say that?” she exclaimed. 

“ Well — from old *experience and knowledge of 
my kind. Men do not live to forty without being 
either physicians or fools, as the proverb says. 
You may trust me. Cruel as you are toward me, 
I would not delude you with false hopes. Your 
father sometimes thinks himself worse than he 
really is; but all the same he is delicate, and this 
storm has somehow given him a nasty shock.” 

Hester wanted to thank him, but she dared not, 
lest even the slightest encouragement should make 
him renew his protestations ; and the}" two stood 
gazing fixedly at each other, Hester knowing all 
the time that he was reading her thoughts. 

“The room is growing chilly!” he said, at last. 
“ Pray don’t let the fire go down. He has slipped, 
too, a little. I will place him in a more comfort- 
able position.” 

Hester went off toward the fire, wondering that 
Anderson had not offered to replenish the stove 
himself. She threw on two or three blocks before 
returning to where her companion was bending 
over the Colonel, with the patient’s Russian leather 
cigar-case in his hand. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


215 


“This ought to be in his pocket, ought it not?” 
said Anderson. “ Slipped out, I suppose. Will 
you put it back?” 

She took the case. ^ 

“ By the way, I dare say he would give me a 
cigar if he were awake. May I take one?” 

Hester offered the case, which Anderson opened, 
took a cigar, and closed and handed back. Then 
Hester slipped it into her father’s breast, beside 
his pocket-book, which was in its place. 

“ There, ” said Anderson, “ you need not be under 
any apprehension. If there were any danger, I 
would not leave you. The stove will burn for 
some hours, so wrap something round you, and go 
to sleep. You would rather I left you?” 

There was no reply. 

“I understand,” continued Anderson, bitterly. 
“ But I am patient. I shall wait, because I know 
that I must win. Good-night. To-morrow I 
dare say help will come. If not, the next day, or 
the next. If not, then it will be too late. I don’t 
know that I shall mind, except for your sake — you 
are so young and beautiful. For myself, it would 
be a joy to lie down and die at your feet. Once 
•more, good-night.” 

He held out his hand, and in spite of herself 
Hester raised hers, for it to be taken and held pas- 
sionately to Anderson’s lips before he loosed it and 
walked sharply out of the room. 

Hester went back to her vigil, drawing back her 
chair so that the full glow from the stove might 
shine upon her father where he lay, breathing 


2I6 


A SECRET QUEST. 


rather heavily, but in a slumber that was peaceful 
and calm. 

Then through the rest of that weary night the 
girl sat watching and listening to every sound. 
At one moment she was buoyed up with hope, for 
there were sounds without which made her hurry 
to the window, feeling sure that Deane and the 
others had returned ; but as she stood with her face 
pressed close to the panes, seeing nothing save 
the glittering stars, the sound was repeated, and 
she knew that instead of footsteps it was the falling 
of fragments of frozen snow from the roof. 

Back by the couch , finding consolation in hold- 
ing her father’s hand, she became tortured b}^ the 
fancy that Anderson had stolen outside and was at 
the panes watching every movement; and this be- 
lief grew so strong at last that she was only able 
to disabuse her mind by rising and going up to 
the window again and again. 

Would the morning never come ! It seemed an 
age since the night had fallen. She looked out to 
see the stars bright as ever, and listened to a 
peculiar sighing wind that swept round the house. 
Then back in her seat, faint and nervous with all 
she had gone through, she waited again, starting, 
at the crackling of the embers, and wondering 
what the coming day would bring. 

Then she began wondering how long people 
could exist without food, and shuddered at the 
idea of seeing her father perish before her eyes. 

This thought was succeeded by one which 
seemed to pervade her being— the presence of 


A SECRET QUEST. 


217 


Anderson, and the feeling that though she had 
mastered him so far, with her father ill, she would 
be at his mercy and perhaps compelled to make 
some promise. 

For the prisoner was becoming weak in thought 
as she was in body. The pangs of hunger were 
growing more hard to bear, and she dared not go 
to sleep, even had she wished. 

At last the desire to close her eyes, if it were 
only for a few minutes, grew so strong that she 
was compelled to leave her seat and begin pacing 
the room; but only to feel over and over again 
that she was almost asleep as she walked. At last, 
after quite an hour’s weary struggle, she felt that 
she must give way. Going to the couch, she drew 
the Colonel’s arm about her neck, and sinking 
down on the floor, her eyes closed ; but she started 
directly into wakefulness, for there was a sound in 
the hall, and convinced that Anderson was return- 
ing, she once more began to pace the long room. 
As she reached the window her heart bounded, for 
the tops of the mountains showed faintly in the 
coming light, and she knew that in less than an 
hour they would be glowing in the morning sun- 
shine. It would be broad daylight then in the 
valley, and she told herself that fear would pass 
away with the darkness. The door opened softly, 
and Anderson came slowly into the room. 


CHAPTER XXVL 


“Good-morning,” hq said quietly; but there 
was a curiously disturbed look on his face, and he 
went straight to where the Colonel lay. 

“ Has he been awake?” 

“ No ; he has not stirred. ” 

Anderson bent over the Colonel again, and as 
Hester watched him she noticed that his hands 
seemed to be busy about her father’s waist. 

“ Better let him have his rest out. You have 
been asleep, of course?” 

Hester shook her head. 

“Why not? Still full of mistrust?” 

She made no reply, and he came to her side. 

“Waiting to speak more fully?” he said, taking 
her hand to hold it in spite of an attempt for its 
withdrawal. “Well, I am ready to hear you. 
There will be no help to-day ; perhaps not to-mor- 
row. Don’t you think, under the circumstances, 
we ought to be more than friends?” 

A slight movement on the Colonel’s part made 
Hester run to his side, glad of the reprieve. She 
caught his hand tightly between hers, determined 
not to leave him again. 

Anderson had followed her, and after a sharp 
look at the sleeping man: 

“Hester,” he whispered, “I have sat thinking 
218 


A SECRET QUEST. 


219 


over what I said to you in the night — of what you 
said to me. Come, you understand me better now ; 
you will not be so cruel. Confound!” he ejacu- 
lated, for at that moment there came a faint dis- 
tant sound, an unmistakable jodel^ which made 
Hester run to the window and throw it open, tear 
out her handkerchief and wave it excitedly ; for 
there, a half mile away, in single file, she could 
see a party of men coming along from the direc- 
tion of the last refuge. 

Her signal was seen, and another melodious 
shout rang out on the clear morning air as one of 
the party detached himself from the rest and came 
on at a slow laborious trot through the thick 
snow. 

Hester’s heart began to bound. There was no 
more cause for dread, and the color began to mount 
to her cheeks again as she recognized the figure in 
advance. It was Adam Deane safely returning, 
and of those with him three were carrying loads 
upon their backs. 

“Then the adventure is over for the present,” 
said a voice behind her. She started round to see 
that Anderson was looking at her with a cynical 
smile upon his countenance. “ There, it is only 
the commonplace finish. Well, Hester, I may 
thank Fate for what she has done. She has changed 
what might have proved to be a tedious and doubt- 
ful courtship into a quick and short certainty. ” 

She looked at him indignantly. 

“Too late for that,” he said. “They will be 
here in a very few minutes now, so one word while 


220 


A SECRET QUEST. 


we are alone. Take what line of action you please 
before these people for the present. I agree with 
you that it would be embarrassing for us to seem 
to be engaged. But we are. ” 

Valter’s jodel rang out again cheerily, and ran 
echoing along the rocks of the great hollow. 

Hester tried to speak — to utter the hot indignant 
thoughts in her heart; but no words would come, 
and she was still struggling to articulate when 
Deane came ploughing through the snow up to the 
window. 

‘‘All well?” he cried. 

“Yes, yes!” said Hester, stretching out her 
hands to him; and as they were eagerly seized 
she felt a sense of joy and safety. “ Welcome 
back.” 

Deane’s heart throbbed tumultuously, and his 
voice shook a little as he climbed in at the window 
to see Anderson a short distance behind, looking 
ghastly in the reflected light. 

“Ah, Mr. Anderson,” he cried, “how are you? 
They’ll be here directly with provisions. We 
tried hard to get back last night, but we could not 
get over the snow in the darkness, and had to take 
refuge in the first hut. But where’s the Colonel 
— not ill?” 

“ He has had rather a bad attack,” said Hester. 
Anderson cleared his throat and seemed to speak 
as if by an effort; but there was a malicious ring 
in his voice as he said quietly: — 

“ Yes ; he has been very ill. Miss Denton and I 
sat up with him all night.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


221 


Deane changed color a little, and turned quickly 
again to Hester, who met his eyes with a look that 
was almost imploring. 

“He is better now,” she said hastily; and she 
too changed color under the young man’s search- 
ing gaze. 

“Morning,” came from the window, and Frant 
climbed in. “ Here we are, loaded. Now, Valter, 
my lad, hand in the commissariat. Got a fire. 
Hurrah ! Talk to you presently, when you are all 
brought back to life. Not got the door open 
then?” 

He said no more, but signed to Valter to come 
in. One of the hotel people, who had accompanied, 
them, entered too, and in an incredibly short space 
of time a capital breakfast was spread, the men 
who had volunteered their services being quite at 
home in the old hospice, and making no scruple 
about hunting out and utilizing the necessaries 
stored away in the cupboards. 

This done, they adjourned to the other room to 
prepare their own breakfast, while after a look at 
the Colonel, Frant turned to Hester. 

“ What do you think?” he said. “ Shall we wake 
him?” 

Hester hesitated, but the problem was solved by 
a sigh from the couch; and as Hester ran to his 
side, the Colonel sat up, stared sharply round, and 
then rose quickly. 

“Well done!” he cried, with his head quite 
clear. “You should have called me when you 
came. Glad to see you back, gentlemen. You’ve 


222 


A SECRET QUEST. 


worked well. I thank you. This is a pleasant 
surprise. ” 

“ Are you better, sir?” said Frant. 

“Better? No; how can I be till I’ve had some 
food. Come, my dear, you are famished. Sit 
down. Now, Mr. Anderson, no ceremony. We 
starved ones can’t wait. Ready, gentlemen.” 

They took their places at the table, where, as 
Hester dispensed the steaming coffee, she glanced 
uneasily at her father, feeling that he had not the 
slightest recollection of his illness during the night. 
In spite of herself, she glanced at Anderson, who 
met her gaze with a look that made her flush with 
anger — the more deeply that she knew Deane was 
taking notice of all that passed. 

Little was said for the next few minutes, during 
which time the breakfast was partaken of with 
avidity by all but Hester and Deane. 

“ Come, my dear,” cried the Colonel, “you must 
eat. You need not be afraid. In an hour you 
will be quite recovered. I’ve gone through this 
sort of thing before — but in heat, not in the cold. 
I must have slept soundly last night. How did 
you get on, Mr. Anderson?” 

“ I?” said that gentleman, giving Deane a mean- 
ing look. “ Oh, pretty well. A day’s fasting does 
not act on me as a sleeping draught.” 

Deane tried hard not to look at Hester, but his 
eyes would turn in her direction. He found that she 
was just glancing at him, her face looking agitated ; 
and as their eyes met a vivid flush rose to her brow, 
while Deane felt a sickening sensation of despair. 
n 


A SECRET QUEST. 


223 


“Ah,” said the Colonel, “you are not an old 
campaigner, Hester, my child; but you have borne 
up bravely. A little more coffee, my dear. I 
hope, Mr. Deane, that the brave fellows who came 
with you are looking after themselves.” 

“Oh yes, sir,” cried Frant, who noted his friend’s 
countenance; “ they are feasting away. Splendid 
air this for the appetite. But we could none of us 
eat last night.” 

“ Why?” said the Colonel. 

“ Well,” said Frant, laughing, as he kept up the 
conversation to draw attention from Deane, “in 
the first place we had been cutting our way over 
snow and ice till we were so exhausted that 
we could hardly stand. In the second place, we 
were cold, miserable, and fireless, as well as dis- 
appointed by our failure. ” 

“ Poor fellows !” said the Colonel, attacking some 
ham. “And in the third place?” 

“ Oh, never mind that, sir. ” 

“But I do mind, sir,” said the Colonel, authori- 
tatively. 

“Well, sir,” said Frant, gazing hard at Hester; 
“ two of us jvere Englishmen, and knowing that 
an English lady and two of our compatriots were 
only a short distance away, half starved and anx- 
iously watching for the help that might not come 
for days, made my friend set such an example 
that I only had appetite for a pipe. Another cup 
of coffee, please. Miss Denton. Fll make up for 
it now.” 

The Colonel drew a long breath, rose from his 


224 


A SECRET QUEST. 


seat, went round to where Deane was seated, and 
laid one hand upon his shoulder, the other on 
Frant’s. 

“ I can’t make speeches this morning, my lads,” 
he said, huskily. “ I only say thank you. God 
bless you both ; I never felt more proud of being 
an Englishman. Hah!” he ejaculated, as he 
turned back to his seat in the midst of a painful 
silence. “Hester, my dear. I’m going to have a 
terrible fit of some kind after this. But I’ll wait 
till we get back to the chalet. ” 

“Ah, do, sir,” cried Frant. 

“I add my thanks,” said Anderson, quietly. 

“ Mr. Deane — Mr. Frant, I hope you will look 
upon me as your friend for life.” 

“Oh, come, I say,” cried Frant. “Don’t. You 
are spoiling a fine young, healthy, honest appe- 
tite. Yes, Miss Denton — thank you. I beg your 
pardon; but you people make too much fuss about 
it. I. worship mountain climbing, and this has 
been a pleasure to me — combination of pleasure 
and utility. Now then, what about going back?” 

“To be sure, yes,” said the Colonel. “How 
soon shall we start?” • 

“That depends, sir, on Miss Denton. We have 
ropes and a short ladder up at the last refuge, but 
there are some awkward little bits to climb and 
descend, for we have to quite leave the pass and 
go up the side of the gorge. I thought perhaps it 
would be better to stay here a few days while a 
way is cut.” 

“Stay here?” said the Colonel, “Hester, my 


A SECRET QUEST. 


225 


child, are you brave enough to try the climb- 
ing?” 

“Yes, certainly,” she cried, eagerly. 

“ But the risk?” said Anderson. 

Frant glanced at Deane, and saw that there was 
a peculiar twitching about his eyes. 

“ I think, with the help the guides would give 
me, papa,” said Hester, quietly, “that I could 
manage to go where you did.” 

“Of course,” said the Colonel. “Then, gentle- 
men, as soon as you please, we will start. ” 

“ In about an hour then,” said Frant. “ Oh, by 
the way. Miss Denton, there is a note from your 
aunt. I beg pardon; I forgot. Come, Deane, 
old man. Now for a quiet pipe with the guides, 
and to make our plans.” 

He led the way to where the men were finish- 
ing their meal, then strode out through the deep 
snow with Deane, ostensibly to examine the latest 
fall of snow. 

“Well?” he said, as soon as they were out of 
ear shot. “ Have you come to your senses, now?” 

“ I was not aware that I had been mad,” replied 
Deane, angrily. 

“ Lunatics never are, old chap. Come, Adam, 
old man, let’s get back to the old ways as soon as 
we can. I wouldn’t speak, but I can’t bear to see 
you so down.” 

“ There is no need to speak.” 

“Yes there is,” said Frant, warmly. “Sooner 
or later I dare say you and I must give up climb- 
ing and gold hunting, and strike our colors to the 

15 • 


226 


A SECRET QUEST. 


fair; but I’m not going to haul mine down to a 
widow who throws her arms round my neck and 
kisses me just because I’m coming through the 
snow to help her niece. ‘Brave gallant manT 
Bosh! I look it!” 

“ The poor woman was frantic with grief, and 
terribly agitated.” 

“ Yes, and her face was horribly wet. Then as 
regards you. ” 

“ Mind what you are saying.” 

“ Eh? Hot enough Xo melt a way back for us to 
the hotel. But I don’t care ; I will speak. I want 
you to take to some dear sweet girl.” 

“Alick.” 

“All right; I’m loaded and must fire. Miss 
Denton is all that; but after what has passed, 
man? And then — oh, it’s as plain as a pikestaff; 
there’s a regular understanding between her and 
that Anderson.” 

“You’re frightfully unjust to say so, Frant,” 
cried Deane, fiercely. 

“ Perhaps : but I say what I feel. ” 

“I’d sooner die than believe it,” cried Deane, 
pallid now with the jealous feeling of agony at 
his breast. 

“Mind you don’t, old chap,” muttered Frant. 
“I don’t half like that Anderson. He’s too 
smooth to be safe. ” 




CHAPTER XXVII. 


“But couldn’t I climb it, Mr. Frant?” 

“ I suppose it is possible. Valter went up it 
like a rabbit ; but I for one would not stand still 
and see you do it. ” 

“ No, no ; you must not try, ” said Deane eagerly. 

“ But I should be swinging at the end of the 
rope,” said Hester, as she gazed up at the wall of 
rock, high up on a shelf of which Valter and an- 
other of the men were standing. 

They had been toiling amongst the loose snow 
for two hours, and had now reached a spot where 
it was imperative that they should strike up out 
of the gorge, pass along the mountain side for 
some distance, and then descend again. 

“Well,” said Frant; “suppose you were swing- 
ing at the end of the rope. You would not be the 
first young lady who has enjoyed a swing.” 

“ But suppose the men let go?” 

“I’ll kick them both over the precipice, and 
hold tight myself. ” 

“ But you will be here. ” 

“No; I’m going up first, and I shall help haul 
you.” 

“ But suppose the rope breaks. ” 

“ It would take ten young ladies of your weight 
227 


228 


A SECRET QUEST. 


to break it. Make a loop,” he continued, turning 
to Deane; “but tie her in as well.” 

“ Will you tie me in, Mr. Frant?” she said hastily. 
“Perhaps Mr. Deane would go, up first instead.” 

“Right,” cried Frant. “Adam was the first 
man. On you go, Deane — Vive les coquettes!" he 
muttered to himself. Deane seized the rope Val- 
ter was holding a hundred feet above their heads, 
and scrambled up, while Frant secured the loose 
end round Hester. 

“ Not so bad as I thought,” he said to himself, 
as he watched and saw that she was trembling 
violently as she followed Deane’s movements. 
At the most risky part she closed her eyes and 
caught at Frant’s arm. 

“ Make you giddy?” he asked. 

She nodded. 

“And you wanted to try and climb! Now, 
then, who knows best?” 

“You, I suppose,” she said, looking him frankly 
in the face, as she glanced up and gave a sigh of 
relief. 

“Won’t do, madam,” said Frant to himself; 
“I’m many degrees over proof. But you are 
nice.” Then aloud: “Ahoy there! ready?” 

“Yes,” came from above, just as the Colonel 
and Anderson walked up with the other men. 

“Great heavens!” exclaimed Anderson; “you 
are surely not going to ” 

“ Haul Miss Denton up there, sir? Yes, we are ; 
and you after — unless you prefer the climb. 
Quite safe. Colonel. ” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


229 


The old man looked up and down. 

“ Is there no other way, Mr. Frant?” 

“ No sir, or we should have taken it. You ^re 
not afraid. Miss Denton?” 

“No,” she said, firmly. 

“ Have you taken every precaution, Mr. Frant,” 
said the Colonel ; and just then Anderson stepped 
to Hester’s side. 

“The risk is too great,” he whispered. 

“I am quite ready, Mr. Frant,” she cried, hur- 
riedly. 

“Haul away,” shouted Frant. “Stand aside, 
please, Mr. Anderson. There, I’ll steady you, 
Miss Denton. You must not mind turning round, 
but don’t struggle, or you might strike against 
the rock.” 

Quickly and steadily as she sat, bound in the 
bight of the rope, she was drawn up, Frant 
guiding her by a second rope and shouting a word 
or two of encouragement. 

“Well done!” he cried. “You’ll soon be up. ” 
Then to himself, “Hang her! that wasn’t a co- 
quettish look, but as nice and innocent as could 
be. Now, if she goes right up to the top without 
squealing or fainting. I’ll begin to believe in her. 
— Well done!” he cried again. “Steady!” Then 
once more to himself, “Wouldn’t let Adam touch 
her — that was it; and yet trusted him all the 
same.” 

A cheer rose from the great shelf where Hester 
was safely landed, set free from the rope, and stood 
ready to wave her handkerchief to her father. 


230 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Now, sir, will you go next?’' 

“ As you like, Mr. Frant. You and your friend 
are in command. I’m afraid I could not climb 
that.” 

“ I shouldn’t let you try, sir,” cried Frant, as he 
caught the bight of the lowered rope. “ Like to 
be lashed in?” 

“Oh, no,” cried the Colonel, passing the loop 
over his head, and seating himself. 

“ Ready, sir?” 

“Ready. Haulaway.” 

He was rapidly hauled up by the three strong 
men above, and the rope lowered again. 

“Now, Mr. Anderson, your turn,” cried Frant. 
“ Like to be tied?” 

“ No,” replied the lawyer quietly. He took his 
place, the signal was given, the rope tightened, 
and as the hauling proceeded Frant noticed that 
Deane was right at the edge, taking the lead. 

“ Fine chance for a man to make an end of his 
rival,” thought Frant. “Only to let him go, and 
he’d do no more courting. Wonder whether Mas- 
ter Anderson thinks that. Bound to say he’s a bit 
uncorhfortable. No; it’s all right. Adam isn’t 
Cain, and Anderson isn’t Abel. Not a bit like 
him ; but he has plenty of pluck.” 

He stooped and picked up his ice-axe, then 
began to climb. 

“ Hi, there! Wait for a rope,” shouted Deane. 

“Can’t,” was the reply; and as Valter and the 
other guide had gone before him, he steadily 
picked his way up, followed by the last man, to 


A SECRET QUEST. 


231 


reach the shelf and find that Hester had been 
watching him all the time, and was looking quite 
pale as he reached her side. 

As they continued their journey Deane offered 
his hand twice in difficult places — Anderson hav- 
ing all his work to keep his own footing; but 
Hester declined, and looked appealingly at Frant, 
who responded by joining her, whispering, laugh- 
ingly, to his friend as he passed : 

“I was all wrong. Not the lawyer: I’m the 
happy man.” 

Deane looked in no wise disturbed as he gave 
way and looked on. 

“ Glad you’ve so much judgment. Miss Denton,” 
said Frant. “ I’m the safest man here.” 

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Frant,” she cried, giving 
him her hand without a trace of embarrassment. 
“ Yes, I can get along easily now. I should not 
like to slip and hurt myself.” 

“ No one does.” 

“ But I meant that it would trouble papa so. 
Put my foot there? Oh, what a depth!” she said, 
in an awe-stricken whisper. “Why, it must be 
quite a hundred feet down to the bottom.” 

“Yes,” he said, “only multiplied by eight.” 

“Mr. Frant!” 

“ Every foot of it. Distances, heights, and 
depths are very deceptive out here, where every- 
thing is grand. But, I say, you’re a very brave 
little woman. There are not many who would 
have taken that hauling up so coolly. ” 

She laughed. 


232 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ How deceptive appearances are, Mr. Frant. 
I’m the most terrible of cowards.” 

“Can’t be. You were as firm as a rock, I 
touched your hand and it was cold and dry.” 

“ That was because I knew it must be done, and 
I would have gone through anything to save papa 
anxiety — and avoid another night like last,” she 
added to herself. 

“All proof that I’m right. You knew how 
risky it was, and you ventured. You mastered 
your feelings. Well, that’s bravery.” 

“Oh, nonsense!” she said, merrily. “But, Mr. 
Frant, how could you be so foolish as to risk com- 
ing up that terrible place without the rope?” 

“ Because I was afraid,” he said, dryly, 

“Afraid?” 

“Yes, of getting out of practice as a mountain- 
eer, and that the guide would think I was funky. 
So, you see. I’m the greater coward of the 
two.” 

“I’m afraid I don’t follow you,” said Hester, 
with a perplexed look in her eyes; “but I don’t 
think you are right. If you had touched my hands 
when you had reached the top you would have 
found them damp enough then, and I was in 
dread all the time lest you should slip.” 

“ She is a coquette,” thought Frant. 

“ Are there many more dangerous places to 
climb?” 

“No; we have got over the worst of it. That 
was the bit which puzzled us last night — that and 
the ascent to it. We tried a different way, and 


A SECRET QUEST. 


233 


it was impossible in the dark. I thought once 
poor old Deane had gone over. ” 

Hester gave so violent a start that she nearly 
slipped on the shelving rock they were passing. 

“Take care!” cried Frant, grasping her arm so 
roughly that he must have given pain; but she 
made no sign. 

“ How was that?” she said. 

“ He would keep on trying to get to you; but it 
was quite impossible in the dark; and at last he 
slipped and was going down headlong; but Val- 
ter, who was roped to him, threw himself down 
and checked him.” 

Hester drew a long catching breath, and as Frant 
caught sight of her averted face he saw that it was 
very pale. 

“She isn’t a coquette,” he said to himself. 
“ She’s a dear sweet little thing, and I don’t won- 
der at old Adam being touched. No, it is all 
girlish frankness, because she likes me as a rough 
straightforward fellow. If I began to fool and 
compliment she would shrink into her shell like 
one of the big snails.” 

“ Oh ! have we to go down there?” cried Hester, 
as she saw one of the guides pause for a moment, 
and then begin to descend a very steep slope. 

“ Yes, and then be lowered down a bit like the 
side of a house. After that, we shall have a quiet 
slope down into the valley ; and, as it says in Jack 
Robinson: ‘The perils and the danger of the voy- 
age are past ;’ but I hope we shall be better friends 
for our adventure.” 


234 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“I hope SO, indeed,” said Hester, looking him 
full in the eyes with so pleased an expression that, 
as Frant was helping her down, he called himself 
““a beast” twice over, and ended by telling him- 
self that if anybody ever dared to call his com- 
panion a coquette in his presence he would break 
his neck — a hyperbolical expression due, perhaps, 
to the bigness of everything around. 

The bottom of the slope was reached, a long 
cclimb achieved, and then the “ house side” rocks 
were descended by means of the rope. The party 
now breathed more freely, for all that remained 
was a couple of hours’ steady descent of the pass 
-over bare stony ground, smoothed by glacial 
action. 

But half of that distance had not been passed 
before they came in sight of a party of about 
thirty men, some of whom were bearing poles 
while others carried shovels, ice-axes and staves. 

As the two parties came in sight there was 
• a tremendous cheer from the new comers, who 
broke into a trot, while the cheer was heartily 
responded to by the successful rescuers. 

Five minutes after the English adventurers 
were surrounded by quite a little crowd of excited 
people, all eager to shake hands and congratu- 
late, while the poles and chairs they bore were 
adjusted, and Hester, the Colonel and Anderson 
were borne back in triumph, the shouts as they 
neared the little hotel announcing their coming, 
which was greeted by the firing of a cannon. 

As they came closer there was the fluttering of 


A SECRET QUEST. 


235 


a handkerchief, and the little crowd parted to 
allow Aunt Ecclesia to run up to the chair in 
which Hester was seated. More than one big 
Swiss walked about wiping his eyes as they saw 
the passionate embraces of aunt and niece. 

“ My darling ! I never thought to see you 
again.” 

The next moment she had her arms round the 
Colonel’s neck. 

“Oh, John, John,” she sobbed; “it has been so 
hard to bear.” 

“ But we’re back safe, my dear,” cried the Colo- 
nel, affectionately, moved by his sister-in-law’s 
emotion. 

“And Mr. Anderson,” cried Aunt Ecclesia, 
shaking hands eagerly. “And Mr. Deane — yoti. 
brave, good fellow!” she cried. “I knew you 
would save them if they were to be saved. ” 

“Don’t forget Valter,” whispered the Colonel, 
merrily, though there was a tear in his eye. 

“Ah, tease me, dear,” she replied. “I’m only 
too glad to hear your voice again. But Mr. 
Frant — where is Mr, Frant? Ah! there he is.” 

The gentleman in question had been hanging 
back, and was just whispering to Hester: 

“ I say, do try and keep your aunt from being 
quite so demonstrative. ” 

But he was too late. Aunt Ecclesia had seized 
his hand and kissed it twice before it was with- 
drawn. To save further manifestations he offered 
his arm. 

“ Let me see you up to the chalet^'" he said; and 


236 


A SECRET QUEST. 


then in a whisper, “ I say — don’t — don’t my good 
little woman — with all these people here. ” 

Aunt Ecclesia uttered a sigh and seemed to 
recollect herself. She withdrew her hand from 
his arm and placed it in Deane’s, making him 
answer her questions as they walked up to the 
chalet^ the crowd following and cheering lustily 
from simple gladness of heart. 

Anderson shook hands with the two young men. 
“Heaven bless you both,’’ he said, huskily; “and 
I am thankful, for I have gained two of the best 
of friends.” 

“ Didn’t know it,” said Frant to himself. “ He 
doesn’t, either,” he continued, as he saw his 
friend’s troubled frown. 

“All right, Adam, old man. I’ll join you di- 
rectly.” 

It was quite a quarter of an hour before he did 
join Deane, who had been in conference with the 
landlord, while a tremendous amount of cheering 
had been going on. 

“ Why, Aleck, lad, what have you been doing?” 

“ Only making the beggars drink our health.” 

• “ But I have been telling the landlord to pre- 
pare a supper for all the men.” 

“Good boy!” cried Frant, quietly; “and I’ll 
be another dozen of champagne. ” 

“ Champagne? Another. ” 

“Well, it was only Swiss.” 


CHAPTER XXVIIL 


“Well, Hetty, my dear — Ah, look there! See 
it? Quite a big one.” 

“Yes papa, and another, and another.” 

“Ah! and look at that,” said the Colonel again, 
as they stood on a little wooden bridge which 
spanned the river just where it made a sudden 
plunge of some two hundred and fifty feet into 
the chasm below. 

They had been leaning against the rail for some 
time, this being a favorite spot with the Colonel — 
one reached without much trouble ; and here he 
was never weary of watching the falling water, 
and chatting with his child. 

“ More stones falling to-day than ever,” he said, 
taking out his cigar case. “ There is twice as 
much water, too.” 

“Yes; all that snow must be melting,” said 
Hester, rather absently. 

“ Hullo!— not well?” 

“ Oh, yes,” she said, with her eyes looking par- 
ticularly bright and tender. 

“Humph! You seemed so dreary and dull I 
was going to propose leaving the chalet and get- 
ting over into Italy. ” 

“Oh, papa!” 

“ Don’t want to go?” 


237 


238 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Oh, no ! We are so happy here. ” 

“Happy? Queer taste, Hetty. Always being 
smothered in avalanches, or starved to death when 
we are not breaking our necks.” 

“ We must not run any more risks.” 

“ Don’t want to go, then?” 

“Oh no, papa,” said Hester, flushing. “Aunt 
would be so disappointed if we left.” 

The Colonel chuckled. 

“ Oh, but I should go on. Can’t stand the risk 
of that mhalliance.'' 

“ Papa!” 

“You may say papa!” cried the Colonel, laugh- 
ing, as he trifled with his cigar-case. “ She’s 
touched by that good-looking young guide Valter, 
I’m sure.” 

“ Papa! for shame!” 

“Hah!” 

The Colonel just saved the cigar-case from fall- 
ing into the fall. 

“Good heavens!” he cried, “I wouldn’t have 
lost that on any account,” and he hastily opened 
it, selected a cigar, and replaced the case in his 
breast. 

“It would have been a pity. But, papa, don’t 
tease Aunt Ecclesia about that. You know you 
are wrong, and twice over she has come to me in 
tears. ” 

“Poor, dear, sensitive little darling! Mayn’t I 
tease her again about her not being with us at the 
hospice?” 

“Oh, I don’t mind that,” said Hester, merrily. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


239’ 

“ Because she is so nice and plump and rosy, 
and if we had been driven to extremities — eh?” 

“Oh, papa, what nonsense!” 

“ Humph! then you would like to stay on here?” 

“Oh, yes,” she said, coloring slightly, but not 
so faintly that he did not detect it. 

“Then it is to be, Hetty, eh?” 

“I — I don’t understand you, papa,” she cried,, 
looking startled. 

“ Yes, you do,” he said, assuming his stern mili- 
tary way, and making her look pale. “ He has 
been hesitating and hanging about me for the past 
fortnight, ever since we were shut up in Fort 
Starvation. Last night he spoke out.” 

Hester looked at him sharply, and took hold of 
the rail that guarded them from the torrent. 

“Hullo! Not going to leap over the fall to- 
avoid matrimony, are you?” 

“Papa!” 

“He spoke very fairly; said the usual stuff' 
about loving you, and that sort of thing, and that 
the adventure up yonder quite settled him to - 
propose.” 

Hester’s eyes looked wild doubt, and her coun- 
tenance was alternately white and flushed as the : 
Colonel went on. 

“ Not the sort of man I should have selected if I 
had been choosing; but he is well off, and may 
make a good husband. I don’t want to lose you, 
Hetty, but I suppose it must come some day. 
Well, what am I to say to Mr. Anderson?” 

The look of doubt passed away on the instant, 


240 


A SECRET QUEST. 


and there was something of her father in her 
countenance as, drawing herself up, she said 
sternly, “Tell Mr. Anderson it is impossible." 

“Eh? Well done, Hetty! That’s decisive. I 
like a woman to know her mind. I’m glad of it, 
my dear. I like Mr. Anderson very well as a 
friend, but as a son-in-law — well, that’s quite an- 
other pair of shoes. Then, emphatically no?’’ 

“ Emphatically no, papa. I do not like Mr. 
Anderson, and I never did.’’ 

“ Come, there are no half measures about that, 
Hetty,’’ said the Colonel, as he laid his arm on 
the rail and smoked, and gazed into the chasm 
where the stones were falling fast. 

“ I have often felt as if Mr. Anderson had some 
arritre pensee in attaching himself to us as he has 
done.’’ 

“Eh?— what?’’ cried the Colonel, starting. 
“Pish! prejudice. You were the arriere pensie^ 
pet, and a deuced nice one, too.’’ 

“ I don’t know, papa. You have made me think 
like this, with your suspicions about people watch- 
ing you.’’ 

“ Humph!’’ 

“You thought that Mr. — that those other gen- 
tlemen had followed you.’’ 

“Well, I did. How do I know now that they 
did not?’’ 

“ You know that they had been here a long time 
when we came, papa.’’ 

“Humph! Well, that is rather against my 
theory,’’ he said, laughing. “There, I am a very 


A SECRET QUEST. 


241 


obstinate, suspicious, old fellow, Hetty, and I was 
wrong. So are you. Mr. Anderson came as an 
invalid; you’ve hooked him, and now ” 

“ You are going to set him free, papa,” said Hes- 
ter, putting her arm through his. “ No — no — no. 
It is impossible.” 

“ Well, well, don’t be so tragic about it, my dear; 
and I tell you I’m very glad. Then you don’t 
want to stay here because of him?” 

“ I want to stay here, papa, because if we go 
anywhere else Mr. Anderson may follow us, while 
if we stay here he will, no doubt, on hearing what 
you have to say, go.” 

“ Upon my word, Hetty, I had no idea you could 
be such a little tartar,” cried the Colonel, merrily. 
“ Only the other day you were a pretty, little, mild, 
meek, bread-and-butter young lady, all accom- 
plishments. Now, all at once, I find you have 
jumped into a formidable, decisive woman. I 
suppose you will now begin to drill me.” 

“ Papa ! this is too serious a matter to jest about. 
I don’t like Mr. Anderson.” 

“ Said so before.” 

“ He is a dangerous man, I am sure.” 

“Prejudice, pet.” 

“ He has been showing me for some time past 
what his wishes are. ” 

“ And you never spoke to me.” 

“ I thought that if he saw my feelings he 
would have the good taste to draw back; but 
since he has spoken to you, I am compelled to be 
plain.” 

16 


A SECRET QUEST. 


242 

“ And you are, my dear — very ; and I like you 
the better for it. Then it shall not be Mr. Ander- 
son, eh? — nor any one else?” 

“Here is aunt coming,” said Hester, quickly, 
as the gleam of a white dress was seen through 
the trees of the descending path; and directly 
after she saw and waved her sunshade to them. 

“ Shall I tell auntie?” said'the Colonel. 

“ No, papa, not yet. It is a thing I can’t bear 
to dwell upon.” 

“And she would talk you to death, eh? Well, 
Ecclesia, come to look for a guide?” 

“ I have come to look for you and Hester,” said 
the little lady. “ Hetty, my darling, are you dis- 
posed for a walk?” 

“Yes, aunt dear. Papa, I’ll leave you now.” 

“All right, my dear. Don’t go far. Which 
way is it to be, and I’ll perhaps come and meet 
you?” 

“Up the valley;” whispered Aunt Ecclesia, 
coloring a little. “ The gentlemen are not that 
way.” 

“ Up the valley, papa,” said Hester, and the old 
man stood with his back against the rails watch- 
ing them through the smoke he kept emitting. 

‘‘ Bless her,” he muttered ; “ I don’t want to lose 
her, but 1 wonder I have kept her so long. They 
all come buzzing about like flies around a candle. 
Well,” he added, after a pause, “when I was a 
young man I should have buzzed too.” 

“ No ; emphatically no, eh ! Glad of it. Don’t 
like him,” he repeated. “Thinks he has some 


A SECRET QUEST. 


243 


arri^re pens^e. Strange thing I never thought of 
that.” 

“Humph!” he continued, “is she right? The 
cleverest among us passes by the greater danger 
through having eyes only for the less. Have I 
been a fool for making friends with this man? 

“Pooh! — rubbish! Can’t be. He is too genu- 
ine. There goes his attraction for me. Poor fel- 
low! Well, he’s too greatly a man of the world 
to suffer much, and I dare say he’ll go now. But 
could he? Is it likely? Bah! — impossible. I’ve 
grown so suspicions that I see danger everywhere. 
My lord would not have sent a man like that to 
run me down. Anyhow, I’ll be on my guard. 
Here come the two detectives and Ecclesia’s bete 
noire. How she snubbed the poor fellow the other 
day just because I was present. Astonishing 
thing how a bit of banter bites a sensitive 
woman.” 

“Morning, gentlemen,” he cried, as Deane and 
Frant came within hearing, with Valter close be- 
hind, wearing his rope like a baldric across his 
breast. They had evidently come from the ice 
fields. 

“Morning, Colonel,” came back cheerily from 
Frant, and Deane took off his hat. 

“ Rather like that little chap,” said the Colonel. 
“Fancied once or twice that he was taken with 
Hetty, but he is just as civil to Ecclesia. Brave 
little fellow. So is the other. Well,” he shouted, 
“ loaded with gold?” 

Deane shook his head and laughed. 


244 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Ah!” he said, as he came on to the bridge, 
“laugh away, sir, but I will find it yet.” 

“ Are you so very eager to get rich?” 

“ Not a bit. I suppose that if I did find it I 
should commence some other craze directly after. ” 

“Yes. All a madness, Mr. Deane.” 

“ No, no. Colonel. Pray, don’t grumble at him. 
He never would climb like an ordinary Christian. ” 

“ You mean climb for the sake of seeing how 
soon a peak can be mounted?” 

“ That’s it. Now, since he has been trying to 
find Aladdin’s cave, he’ll climb anywhere — head 
as cool as a bit of ice. You should have .seen him 
this morning.” 

“ I don’t want to see him break his neck,” said 
the Colonel, testily, as he took out his cigar case. 

“ Now, if I were gold-hunting,” said the Colonel, 
pointing down into the huge cauldron below, 
“ that’s the sort of place I should try to look for it, 
if the water could be turned away. ” 

“And you would find nothing but dust,” said 
Deane, quietly ; “ anything that goes down there 
must be ground to powder.” 

“ Don’t lean too heavily on that rail, young man, ” 
said the Colonel, shortly. “ I don’t think it is 
very safe.” 

Deane laughed, and changed over to the other 
side. A party of smart-looking men came along, 
and crossed the bridge, saluting the gentlemen 
with a friendly word or two in an Italian 

“ Who are these?” said the Colonel. 

“What we should call navvies at home, sir.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


245 


“ Humph ! not much like'ours. What are they 
doing here?” 

“ They have been at work on one of the railways, 
so they say at the hotel ; and their excavating being 
finished, they are making for their own side of the 
mountains. A party passed the hotel yesterday. ” 

“Humph!” growled the Colonel, “spoiling the 
country. What do we want with railways in a 
lovely land like. this? Where is the Swiss Ruskin 
to get up a protest?” 

“All the tourists’ doing.” 

“ Yes. Take a cigar,” said the Colonel, offering 
his case. 

“Thanks, no; I’ll keep to my pipe.” 

“ Of course, ” said the Colonel. “ What ruffians 
you young Englishmen make of yourselves when 
you come abroad. Here, Mr. Deane, put away that 
nasty black pipe and have one,” he continued. 
“ That other fellow’s past hope.” 

Deane thrust the pipe in his pocket, and took a 
cigar. 

“Take another, Mr. Deane,” said the Colonel. 
“Here — no. I’ll refill it to-morrow. Take the 
case. ” 

“The case, sir,” said Deane, looking at the 
handsome contrivance of Russia leather and gold, 
with an escutcheon on the side. 

“Yes, my lad; take it and keep it as a remem- 
brance of a very rusty old blade — myself!” 

“ Really, Colonel Denton, you are very good, ” 
said Deane, warmly; “but I could not think of it. 
Besides, your crest is on the side.” 


246 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“The more reason why you should keep it. 
There, don’t bear resentment against a crotchety 
old soldier, who says much more than he means. 
Take the case. ' I have not said much, but I feel 
horribly in your debt, sir, and in my rough fashion 
I’m very grateful. No — not another word. Light 
your cigar, and I’ll get back to the chalet. Had a 
very long walk?’’ 

Deane did not reply, but Frant plunged into the 
breach. They walked on together to the spot 
where the pathway forked, the Colonel going off 
to the right, the two young men following Valter’s 
steps toward the hotel. 

For some minutes neither spoke, Frant watching 
his friend’s moody face as he strode on, striving 
to chase away the doubts which still clung to him, 
in spite of the manifest pleasure Hester had daily 
shown when they met — doubts which kept reviv- 
ing at the frequent encounters when Anderson was 
present. 

As they reached the hotel, Valter was waiting 
to take their ice axes. Deane pitched his care- 
lessly to the guide, and then passed on. 

“ Not coming in?” said Frant. 

“No, old fellow; not yet. I’ll go on and finish 
this cigar.” 

“ Then I’ll come too,” said Frant, and they went 
on for half a mile without a word, Frant, whose 
countenance looked sad and troubled, glancing 
sidewise from time to time. 

Their way twice led through little passes, where 
thickly packed fir trees rose among the rocks. The 


A SECRET QUEST. 


247 


second time a wild-looking face was seen for a 
moment peering after them, but was withdrawn 
at once. 

“ The guv’nor seems disposed to be very civil, 
Adam, old fellow,” said Frant at last. 

“Yes; I ought not to have taken the case.” 

“I don’t see why not. Hullo! Oh, I see — an 
assignation. ” 

“ On my soul, no, Aleck. I had not the least 
idea,” said Deane, stopping short as he caught 
sight of Hester and her aunt a quarter of a mile in 
front going slowly up the valley. 

“Needn’t swear, old fellow,” said Frant, sadly. 
“Well, what are you going to do?” 

“Go back,” said Deane. 

“Bah!” 

“ What ! go forward to expose myself to the wiles 
of a coquette?” said Deane, bitterly. 

“Who says she is a coquette?” cried Frant, 
flushing. 

“You have, a dozen times.” 

“ Then knock me down for a liar-and a cad.” 

“What?” cried Deane, with a curious laugh. 
“ Is Saul also among the prophets?” 

“Yes, and going to give you the straight tip, 
old man,” cried Frant, warmly. “If ever there 
was a sweet, true, innocent girl on earth, Hester 
Denton is that girl ; and any man — self included 
— who says she is not ” 

“Aleck!” cried Deane, in astonishment. 

“Yes, you may well look surprised, old man. I 
was a fool and a prejudiced assi Why, if I were 


248 A SECRET QUEST. 

you, do you think I would let that confounded 
lawyer fellow go hanging after her as he does. 
She doesn’t like it, I’m sure. The old man is 
taking to you, as you see. The course is open to 
you. Ah, Adam, old chap, you’re a lucky fellow, 
and I wish I was in your shoes. ” 

“Don’t — don’t talk like that!” cried Deane. 
“You don’t know what it is to feel as I do: one 
day full of bright hope, the next full of despair. 
You set me doubting just at the time when I was 
ready to fire up with mad jealousy. Everything 
has been against me. That man, with his cursed 
patronizing manner, has led me to believe that he 
was as good as engaged to her. How could I help 
doubting and being in misery?” 

“Quite right; but now’s your time. Hang it 
all — go to her like a man — speak out like a man. ” 
“ What? Without a word to her father?” 

“ Oh, hang etiquette at a time like this! If she 
does care for you as she ought, and you care for 
her, why, the Colonel Oh, hang it, he’s a fa- 

ther as well as a soldier; and, rough one as he 
is, he worships that girl.” 

“Go and speak to her,” said Deane, dreamily 
repeating his former words, “before a second 
party?” 

“Oh! I’ll take care of that.” 

“Aleck!” cried Deane, catching him by the 
arm ; “ it seems too much to hope. ” 

“ For her?” said Frant, dryly. 

“ Man, man — don’t jest at a time like this.” 
“Why not? Am I to look miserable because 


A SECRET QUEST. 


249 


my best friend is going to win the girl who loves 
him? 

“ If I only dared to feel sure. ” 

“ Coward!” 

“ Yes, coward. So much of my life’s happiness 
depends upon her reply.” 

“Then, why torture yourself, old chap?” said 
Frant, with a ring of sadness in his words. “ Hang 
it, man, the peak is before you, all glowing in 
the sunshine of happiness — the virgin height and 
pure and immaculate waiting for you to scale. 
Afraid?” 

“No, not afraid; but I approach it with awe,” 
said Deane. Without another word they walked 
on sharply, but did not overtake the couple in 
front, for they encountered them — Hester having 
proposed that they should turn back. 

“Now, forlorn hope, do your duty,” said Frant 
to himself, and, after a cheery greeting to both, 
he shook hands warmly with Aunt Ecclesia and 
led her on toward the hotel. 

Hester made a gesture full of alarm. 

“Aunt — Aunt Ecclesia,” she said, nervously. 

“Don’t — don’t stop her, ’’said Deane, hastily; 
and she turned her frightened eyes upon him as if 
imploring him not to speak. But as she gazed at 
him a change came over her, and her answer to his 
extended hands was the placing of her own within 
them; and they did not try to escape from the 
warm clasp in which they were held. 

A minute later Hester’s hand was resting on 
Deane’s arm, and they were walking slowly back 


250 


A SECRET QUEST. 


together, in perfect silence ; for to both it seemed 
as if there were nothing to be said. 

Save for a look from time to time — a look that 
was met for an instant before Hester’s eyes fell, 
and she trembled in her new found happiness — 
they might have been two of the most ordinary 
people walking slowly down the mule path toward 
the patch of pine forest through which Frant and 
Aunt Ecclesia were passing — the latter with her 
heart beating wildly with hope, and then with fear. 

They passed on, for it was not their day. Frant 
talked, but it was to some extent in the spirit, as 
he told himself, of Marcus Curtius leaping into the 
gulf ; and the gulf was more pleasant than he had 
hoped. 

Then they passed out of the wood, with its mossy 
rocks and fallen trunks, all suggesting rest and 
sweet converse, and Aunt Ecclesia’s heart sank a 
little till she recalled that there was another patch 
of pine further on. 

As they passed out of the wood at one end, Hes- 
ter and Deane entered by the other. The silence 
was only broken by the murmuring hum of the 
torrent, which rose and fell like the deep diapason 
of some huge organ ; for neither bird nor insect 
could be heard, and as they two passed on it was 
as if no one else was living in the great and glo- 
rious world — as if they were alone in the fulness 
of their love. 

Here, as if completely iinder a spell, they two 
stopped, in the very darkest shade of the wood, 
where a mossy rock rose just above the dense mass 


A SECRET QUEST. 


251 


of tender-leaved vaccinium, and at a gentle pres- 
sure of the hand Hester looked up at the man 
whom she felt must be her lord. Without a word, 
moved by his will, she sank upon the stone, while 
he, whom she had looked up to as lord, was now 
at her feet, kneeling in adoration of the treasure 
given into his hands. 

“Hester!” he whispered, passionately; “ I have 
no words to speak. My love — my love!” 

Adam and Eve in paradise: as innocent and as 
full of joy. But the devil was there — close at 
hand — parting the pine boughs — as timidly Eve 
suffered herself to be drawn lower and lower to- 
ward Adam’s breast. 

But serpents are out of place in the higher Alps, 
and the Devil was in human shape — with a coun- 
tenance that would have startled Adam Deane had 
he been looking that way. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


“ I REALLY cannot bear it, Hester. Your papa 
is too bad.” 

“ Oh, aunt, dear, you ought to be used to a lit- 
tle teasing now.” 

“I am, my dear— to a little teasing; but it is 
not a little. It is so shocking, too. Persisting 
that he saw me squeeze that guide’s hand!” 

“But, aunt, dear, it is all nonsense. Papa is 
not blind.” 

“Now, Hester, if you begin, that will end it. 
I am not a pauper. ” 

“ No, you are my dearest aunt.” 

“Now, don’t kiss me, my dear, with banter on 
your lips. If you begin too, I shall set up an es- 
tablishment of my own.” 

“Of course you will, aunt, dear,” said Hester, 
merrily. “ When is it to be?” 

“ Hester ! As if such a thing was ever possible !” 

“ Papa thinks it is ; for he asked me last night 
whether Mr. Frant would come and speak to him 
first, as he occupies the position of father. ” 

“ Father ! — nonsense ! — brother. I will not have 
the matter discussed. Mr. Frant would never in- 
sult me by asking such a thing. I declare, Hes- 
ter, that for the past four weeks you have been 
quite changed — laughing and singing about the 
252 


A SECRET QUEST. 


253 


place ; and only the other day you were morbid 
and shrinking, pretending to be afraid of Mr. An- 
derson. I don’t know what’s come to you.” 

Yes you do, auntie, dear,” cried Hester, fling- 
ing her arms about her and kissing her, to hide 
her flushed face. 

“ Ah, well, I suppose I do ! But you are ter- 
ribly stupid over it, and I’m quite astounded to 
see your father taking it all like a lamb. Only 
the other day, he was all amiability to Mr. Ander- 
son ; now he is barely civil at times. I suppose 
he is relenting, though, or he would not have 
asked him to dinner to-night. I wish he would 
not, for I really do not like the man. Oh, here 
are the gentlemen. There, go and tell your 
father they are coming. ” 

“Why, aunt, you know he and Mr. Anderson 
have gone down the valley together.” 

“Oh, dear, yes! What a head I have, to be 
sure. Then we shall be obliged to see them alone. 
By the way, Hetty, did your father say whether 
he had found his letters?” 

“ No, aunt. The dispatch-box seemed to have 
been opened by a false key, and a whole packet 
has gone. ” 

“I don’t believe it. He is so forgetful and 
stubborn. Depend upon it he never brought the 
letters out here at all.” 

“ He may not. Aunt,” said Hester, carelessly, as 
she went to the window. 

“ It was only one of his excuses to make a dis- 
turbance. But Hetty, my dear. Really ! you 


254 


A SECRET QUEST. 


shouldn’t! What will Mr. Deane think of you, if 
you are so bold. You ought to be more retiring 
now than ever. ” 

Hester turned from the window, looking amused 
at her aunt’s words, but with a sweet aspect of 
joy, rest and content in her eyes. For the time of 
doubts and fears was gone, and Anderson had 
seemed to accept his fate, treating her always now 
with quiet friendly deference. 

In fact, one evening he as good as asked her 
forgiveness, confessing that it was all a mistake 
on his part, and congratulating her. Hester, in 
the full tide of her happiness, blind now to every- 
thing but her love, safe in the protection of Adam 
Deane’s strong arm, was ready to pardon. 

Deane and Hester, in their new found joy, 
looked at the whole world through the rosiest of 
rose-colored glasses. Every day seemed happier 
than the last, and the lovely valley, with its 
mighty snow-covered peaks and frowning crags, 
with the soft green Alps, bright with the greenest 
of green and gayest of flowers, was a paradise full 
of joy. 

So the days had been gliding on in a dreamy 
peace. Even a rainy time had seemed beautiful, 
and when Deane returned to his hotel at night, it 
was always with the feeling that the Colonel was 
growing good temperedly tolerant of his presence 
at the chalet for Hester’s sake. 

At the hotel the intercourse with Anderson was 
beginning to grow warmer. The latter’s behav- 
ior was now never effusive, but was rather friendly 


A SECRET QUEST. 


255 


and gentlemanly. He joined Deane and Frant 
whenever they seemed disposed to accept his 
presence, but at other times kept aloof ; so that in a 
short time Deane found himself led into making 
advances to the lawyer that a month earlier he 
would have deemed impossible. 

The plump maid answered Deane’s summons, 
and after ushering in the two visitors, hurried to 
the back of the house to receive her own, in the 
person of Valter. 

“Ah, Miss Denton,’’ cried Frant; “the Colonel 
in?’’ and before she could answer — “ I want him 
to prescribe for Deane. ’’ 

“Are you unwell?’’ cried Hester, hastily turn- 
ing to Adam. 

“I? No. Some nonsense of his.’’ 

“Oh, no; serious business, I can assure you; 
and as the Colonel’s so clever with powder and 
draught, I thought he would set him right.’’ 

“ But Mr. Deane says he is not ill, Mr. Frant,” 
cried Aunt Ecclesia. 

“Mad people always say they are perfectly sane, 
madam. I, who am a looker-on, say that he is 
decidedly ill. Does nothing but mope and moon, 
and hang about the hotel. Miss Denton, you will 
not believe what I am going to tell you. ” 

“Am I so sceptical?” 

“ You will be. Actually he has not mentioned 
his myth for a week, and there is every prospect of 
the jolly old Romans’ gold mine resting in peace.” 

“Don’t take any notice of him,” said Deane, 
who looked a trifle uncomfortable. 


256 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Do, Miss Denton. No gold-hunting ; no climb- 
ing. Now, once more, Adam, old man, will yon 
come and do Piz Luce to-day?” 

“ No, thanks. I’ve a presentiment that I should 
fall.” 

“Bosh! It’s a perfectly easy climb. You 
might drive a cow nearly to the top.” 

“ Is there really no danger?” asked Hester. 

“ Not a scrap, I assure you.” 

“ Why not go?” said Hester, smiling. 

“ Because I want to have another look at the 
gorge, for one thing ; and for another I do not feel 
in climbing trim — to be dragged up to the top of 
a mountain to see nothing but clouds, and then 
come down again.” 

“ But you will have made the ascent. Is that 
nothing?” 

“Next to nothing,” said Deane, merrily. “I 
don’t want to walk — or climb— to the top of a 
mountain just to say that I have been there. ” 

“ There’s gratitude!” cried Frant. “ Did I ever 
murmur about climbing up or diving down into 
all sorts of places in search of your imaginary gold 
mine?” 

“Never. You were always the best of com- 
panions. ” 

“ And you are getting to be the worst. I throw 
you over. Miss Denton, it is all your doing. 
You have the proud satisfaction of knowing that 
you have made a bad mountaineer much worse.” 

“I am very sorry,” said Hester, smiling at the 
spoiled climber. 


A SECRET QUEST. 257 

“ If it were not impolite, I’d say I don’t believe 
you. Well, ta, ta, all. I shall be oif.” 

“ You will be back to dinner, Mr. Frant?” 
“Trust me,” said the young man, laughing. 

“ Which point is it you are going to climb, Mr. 
Frant?” said Aunt Ecclesia. 

“That one,” said Frant, pointing. 

“ Oh ! But it looks very dangerous. ” 

“ Madam,” said Frant, didactically, “you should 
never trust to appearances. ” 

“ But you really ought to be careful. Suppose 
you were to slip and fall. ” 

“ And be late for dinner, ” said Frant. 

“ It is nothing to laugh at, sir. Think of your 
friends at home. Suppose they had the news of 
your meeting with an accident. ” 

“ Mrs. Bindley, ” cried Frant, merrily, “ it will 
not do. Your role is that of the dove, and you are 
trying to utter the forebodings of a raven. ” 

“Mr. Frant!” 

“ I beg pardon. I was getting poetical, and 
lost my way. ” 

“ I hope, you will not lose your way in coming 
down the mountain.” 

“ I’ll try not; and for the sake of my friends at 
home I will be very careful. There, I must be 
off. Ladies, if you are looking that way in four 
hours’ time, I hope you will see me hoist my 
flag — I mean my pocket-handkerchief — on my ice- 
axe handle. For the present, good-by. ” 

He left, Aunt Ecclesia joining Hester and 

17 


258 


A SECRET QUEST. 


Deane at the door as they watched the two young 
men disappear among the pines. 

“Really, Mr. Deane, ” said Aunt Ecclesia, “I 
think you are very wise in giving up this terrible 
climbing.” 

“ But I don’t deserve your praise, Mrs. Lindley. ” 

“ Oh, don’t call me by that dreadfully formal 
name, Mr. Deane,” pleaded the little lady. “I 
mean — that is — ah, Hester, my dear, I ought 
really to go and speak about the dinner.” 

Flushed and confused, and looking like a 3^oung 
girl in her hesitation, she hurried out of the room. 

For a few moments no word was said. Then 
Hester looked up consciously. 

“It is very cruel of me,” she said, “to expose 
you to so much banter and annoyance?” 

“You know I do not mind,” he said, tenderly. 

“ But it is bepause I spoke to you about the dan-, 
ger of these ascents. I wish I were not such 
coward.” 

“And I wish you may never change.” 

They had been seated by the window about hal:^ 
an hour when Deane rose. 

“ There,” he said, “ I ought to go now.”' 

“ I have robbed you of 5^our companion. ” 

“No,” said Deane, taking her hand to hold it 
to his lips ; “ I always have a companion with me 
row. I shall go, over into the next valley for a 
walk.” 

At that moment Aunt Ecclesia entered the room 
ready to go out. 

“Not ready, Hester?” she said, “Oh, you!” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


259 


“ Ready for what, auntie?*' 

“ Our walk. I told you I should be ready in 
quarter of an hour. ” 

Hester glanced merrily at Deane. 

“ I’m afraid I did not hear you, aunt, dear,” she 
said. “There, I will not be a minute.” 

“Then good-by,” said Deane, holding out his 
hand; “except you will come part of the way with 
me.” 

Hester glanced at her aunt. 

“ I will not take you into any dangerous pi aces,” 
said Deane. 

“ Really, Mr. Deane, any one would think I was 
a terrible coward. I’m sure I can climb better 
than Hester.” 

“Them you will both come?” he cried, eagerly. 

“ Are you going to search for the old gold 
mine?” 

“Yes,” said Deane, looking wistfully at Hester. 

“We will come part of the way,” cried Aunt 
Ecclesia. 

Ten minutes later they were going slowly up 
the zig-zag path by the side of the valley down 
which the avalanche had thundered, The stin 
was shining brightly in the deliciously clear atmo-* 
sphere, the faint tinkle of the bells of a herd of 
goats came from far overhead, while the snowy 
peaks near at hand were dazzling from, their brill- 
iancy, and the lower slopes more in the distance 
were of a delicious blue. 

Neither Deane nor Hester spoke much. They 
were oppressed, almost sad, as if the beauty of the 


26 o 


A SECRET QUEST. 


scene was too much to bear. But as they rose 
higher into the more bracing air, the saddened 
feeling gave place to a sensation of calm and placid 
joy, whose effect was to make them join hands and 
walk on slowly together, to stop from time to time 
and gaze at the mountain slopes and valleys. The 
silence was profound, and as they stood gazing at 
the glint of water faf away. Where a fall of the 
river flashed into light, Deane said, slowly : 

“And they say this is a miserable world— a vale 
of tears. Hester, I never knew how beautiful it 
was — how really happy one could be — till now.” 

For answer, as they stood together in the great 
solitude, high now above human habitation, and 
half leaning against a mossy rock from whose 
crevices appeared the rosettes of the litfle sedutn^ 
and about which the ruddy mountain rhododen- 
drum blossomed, Hester suffered herself to be 
drawn nearer to her companion, and, with her 
head resting against his shoulder, they gazed 
dreamy-eyed and happy at all below. 

Aunt Ecclesia was forgotten — as she had forgot- 
ten them; for the little woman, with her cup full 
of pleasure, like a child, was seated a hundred 
yards away, hidden by the rocks, watching the 
dazzling snowy point three miles away upon which 
in due time a signal was to be shown. 

Deane and Hetty were still resting, hand hold- 
ing hand, when a quick reproachful voice, borne 
close to them by footsteps unheard in the moss, 
exclaimed, 

“Hetty, my dear — I’m not blaming you — but 


A SECRET QUEST. 


261 


you shouldn’t up here — where every one can see 
you. Mr. Deane ” 

“But we are alone,” said the latter, smiling. 
“ Only you to see, and — there, it shows you how 
we love and trust you.” 

“Yes, that’s a very pretty speech, Mr. Deane,” 
said Aunt Ecclesia, pettishly ; “ but nowadays one 
never can be quite alone. And can’t you see papa 
going along that path toward the chalet, along 
with Mr. Anderson, and you know he always car- 
ries a glass. ” 

She pointed with her sunshade. Deane shaded 
his eyes and gazed down. He could make out the 
Colonel’s white pith helmet, and caught sight of 
a flash from something shiny carried by a dark 
figure at his side — either the binocular or its patent 
leather case. 

“There,” continued Aunt Ecclesia; “you are 
not out of sight, and I know Mr. Anderson never 
goes a dozen yards without using his glass.” 

“It was very thoughtless of me, aunt, dear,” 
said Hester, simply, and with her cheeks glowing; 
but there was a look of innocence in her eyes 
which made the little lady kiss her warmly. 

“Never mind, dear; I don’t see that there was 
anything to be ashamed of; and it was all Mr. 
Deane’s fault,” she added, merrily. 

“ Granted,” he said. “ Mine be the blame.” 

“ Hetty, my dear, I can’t see them.” 

“I can, aunt, dear, quite plainly. There, at 
the edge of those firs.” 

“I didn’t mean them, child, but the others,” 


262 


A SECRET QUEST. 


cried Aunt Ecclesia, pettishly; “Mr. Frant and 
Valter.” 

“Oh, I had forgotten them,” said Deane, glanc- 
ing at Aunt Ecclesia, who turned away at his gaze. 
“Almost too soon yet, I think.” 

“ You think !” cried Aunt Ecclesia. “ Whatever 
idea have you of the time? There, Hester, dear, 
we must go back now.” 

“ Yes ; we ought to return, aunt, ” and the speaker 
held out her hand to Deane. 

“ My dismissal,” he said, raising the hand to his 
lips. 

“ Now, Mr. Deane — after what I said. Really ! 
That dreadful man is sure to be using his glass 
just at this very moment.” 

“Only till dinner-time,” said Hester, merrily. 
“ Be careful, and don’t run into danger. If you 
find the gold mine, I bespeak a bracelet. Can 
you see them, aunt?” 

“Yes; and Mr. Anderson is using his glass. I 
saw it flash.” 

“But I meant Mr. Frant,” said Hester, mis- 
chievously. Waving her hand to Deane, she 
turned to go, but stopped short as he plunged down 
the slope leading to the deep gorge where he fan- 
cied he had discovered traces of the old workings. 

As he descended, he leaped from time to time, 
boy-like, on one of the huge blocks of limestone, 
to turn and wave his ice-axe, while Hester ran to 
keep Deane in view, taking out her handkerchief 
to wave to him from time to time till he finally 
disappeared. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


263 


Aunt Ecclesia stood watching her, with her 
forehead puckered up, comparing in her musings 
her own fate with that of her niece. 

“I never seem to have been happy like that,” 
she said; “never seem to have been a girl and 
loved. Yes, wave your handkerchief to him. 
You can see him, and he loves you. I can’t see 
my — him,” she continued, with a wistful gaze at 
the white peak Frant was to ascend ; “ and eVen if 
I could see him, I don’t know that he cares. No, 
it’s all very weak and stupid and childish of me. 
He’s young, and brave, and strong, while I’m only 
a poor old widow.” 

vShe sighed bitterly, and the sadness which 
overspread her face made it look very sweet and 
lovable, in spite of her self-depreciation. The 
term old widow, by the way, was singularly mal 
apropos^ for she was about a year younger than 
Frant. 

“All this is a silly fancy,” she continued. “He 
could not care for me, and has only, in his thought- 
less way, been making fun of me. He shall see 
now that I am not so weak and foolish as to take 
any more notice. Yes ! — only a foolish fancy ; and 
now I am going to be very wise.” 

“ Thinking, aunt, dear?” 

“ Oh, Hetty, you made me jump. Yes, I was 
thinking, dear.” 

“ What about?” 

“ The dinner, and how to make it nice. There 
is so little change. No fruit, no fish up here.” 

“ Don’t trouble about it. You know what papa 


264 


A SFXRET QUEST. 


said: The Swiss bread, cheese, and wine, was a 
feast for a god. ” 

“Yes, my dear, but your papa is not a heathen 
god. I’m not led away by his fine speeches about 
bread and cheese and wine. You keep him with- 
out his entrtes and delicacies for a week, and see 
what a temper he would be in.” 

They continued their way down thoughtfully, 
and scarcely a word was said till they were close 
to the end of the slope that they had passed in 
coming up. Aunt Ecclesia stopped short, close 
to a clump of pines. 

Here she drew a long breath, and looked sharply 
round . 

“ Did you hear anything?” said Hester. “ Oh ! 
look, aunt, look!” 

She- pointed away across the valley to where, 
at the summit of the peak Aunt Ecclesia had 
watched, there appeared a dot on the snow. Di- 
rectly after there was a suggestion of something 
moving over the dot for a minute or so. 

“Mr. Frant has climbed the Piz, aunt!” cried 
Hester, joyfully. 

“Yes, my dear, ’’said Aunt Ecclesia, sadly, “and 
not the first person who has climbed high up to- 
ward what seemed in the distance like Heaven, 
and then had to crawl down.” 

“ Why, auntie, what is the matter?” 

“Nothing, my dear — nothing. Come along.” 

At the end of a hundred yards or so Hester 
turned quickly upon her aunt. 


A SECRET QUEST. 265 

“ What made you stop and exclaim up there by 
that wood?” 

“I? Oh, I remember now; I fancied your papa 
must have been up there. ” 

“What, after a long walk this morning? Oh, 
no.” 

“ I fancied I smelt one of his cigars — the curious 
odor those have which he brought from England.” 

“Fancy, auntie. Come along. What a long 
time papa will think us!” 

Hester had hardly uttered those words when she 
stopped short, for a rough -looking, black-bearded 
man rose suddenly from the turf beside the track, 
and three others at the same time sprang to their 
feet. 


CHAPTER XXX. 


The people of the Alpine districts are of such a 
class that fear of molestation is an idea that pre- 
sumably never enters the heads of the thousands 
of ladies who tramp through the Swiss mountain 
valleys, often enough quite unattended; and, to 
the honor of the nation it can be said, an appeal 
at any hut would be responded to by protection, 
and, if need were, defenders. 

The thought, then, of anything wrong never 
occurred to Hester or her aunt. They rightly 
judged the men to be navvies from the Italian slope, 
returning from work on the line just being com- 
pleted. The ladies were preparing to return the 
salute they expected, and pass on, but the way 
was barred by a couple of the men, while two 
others, after a glance behind them, closed up the 
way of retreat. 

“Don’t be alarmed, Hetty,” whispered Aunt 
Ecclesia; “they have been drinking.” 

But the men were sober enough to make clear 
their object directly, and showed that, though 
brigandage might for the most be a thing of the 
past, relics of the old custom still lingered. 

Uttering something in a barbarous Italian patois, 
the most truculent-looking of the gang pointed to 
266 


A SECRET QUEST. 


267 


Hester’s gold watch and chain. As she shrank 
from him, he caught her arm, seized the watch, 
and snapped the chain, transferring both to his 
pocket; while, in spite of her angry struggles and 
expostulations, Aunt Ecclesia suffered in a simi- 
lar way, another of the men snatching her brooch 
as well. 

“Hester, call for help!’’ she cried, loudly; but 
the man who held her placed his face close to her, 
and gave her so menacing a look that she was for 
the moment silent, while angry demands were 
made now for their purses. 

“Give them the money, aunt, pray,’’ cried Hes- 
ter, who was very white, but otherwise showed no 
sign of fear. Then, with a cry. Aunt Ecclesia 
started forward and flung her left arm about H^- 
ter, striking at the man who held her across the 
face with her sunshade ; for, not content with rob- 
bery, the man was proceeding to insult. He had 
thrown his arms round her, uttering the one word 
“ Belissima!’’ and was trying to kiss her when 
Aunt Ecclesia ’s blow brought the fierce southern 
blood flushing to his temples. With an angry 
roar he turned to seize her. 

One of his companions threw his arm across 
the fellow’s breast, saying something quickly, and 
nodding in the direction of the valley. But for a 
moment the ruffian resisted, thrusting his hand 
into his breast and drawing forth a knife. 

But the flash of temper was only momentary. 
The words of warning had their effect, and the 
little party started off at a run by the way the 


268 


A SECRET quest. 


ladies had descended, passed in amongst the trees, 
and disappeared. 

“Oh, Hetty, Hetty, my child! Quick; let us 
run!” 

“No, aunt,” panted Hester. “The danger is 
past now. ” 

“Don’t — don’t faint, darling, pray,” sobbed 
Aunt Ecclesia, as Hester reeled to a tree and sup- 
ported herself by its trunk. 

“No, no, aunt dear; I’m not going to; but my 
heart beats so, and I feel giddy. I’m better now. 
Oh, who could have expected that!” 

“No one. I’m sure. That beautiful watch, 
too, that poor Lindley gave me. Come along, 
quick, and your father shall send the police after 
them !” 

“You forget, aunt,” said Hester, smiling sadly, 
“that there are no police nearer than Altbad. 
There, there ; it is only our watches. Let’s get 
on home.” 

It was her turn now to comfort Aunt Ecclesia, 
who was nearer fainting than her.niece. But she, 
too, soon recovered, and they made the best of 
their way back to the chalet^ where the Colonel 
could hardly credit their story. As soon as it was 
brought home to his understanding, then slightly 
confused from his being awakened from a sleep 
after his morning walk, he seized his stick, hur- 
ried down to the hotel, and ten minutes later men 
were going in two directions — to give notice to the 
police, and to spread the alarm on toward the 
frontier, so that the miscreants might be stopped 


A SECRET QUEST. 269 

as they sought to go through one or the otliet pass 
into Italy. 

The landlord was as furious as the Colonel. 

“ Oh !” he cried, in German, “ if the brave, noble 
English gentlemen and Valter were only here! 
The dogs — the wretches. Bad men who have 
been here to work, and Heaven be praised, going 
back. A disgrace to our Commune, herr. But 
wait; they shall suffer in prison for it.” 

Nothing more could be done. The Colonel was 
for starting alone in pursuit, but was detained 
almost by force ; and, feeling at last that he was 
too weak and helpless to follow these men among 
the mountains, he returned slowly to the chalet 
where, some hours later, he was joined by Ander- 
son and Frant. The former had met the latter on 
his way back alone from his climb, and after a 
few words of commiseration they announced their 
intention of going in pursuit. 

“No,” said the Colonel, who had now calmed 
down ; “ it is not our duty. Information has been 
given, and your landlord, for the credit of the 
place, will leave no stone unturned to have the 
scoundrels punished. It will be a lesson, though, 
about letting my ladies go out unattended.” 

“But, Colonel,” began Frant, warmly; “I must 
do something.” 

“ He is quite right,” said Anderson; “ we must 
do something.” 

“ Yes,” said the Colonel, “and you shall. The 
ladies have been startled, but they have got over 
it; and as to the watches and chains. I’m not 


270 


A SECRET QUEST. 


^oiugtohave my dinner spoiled for them. There, 
gentlemen, back to your hotel. In an hour I shall 
expect you to dinner with our friend Deane.” 

Here Frant took out his handkerchief and be- 
gan to dab his cheek, which was scarred down one 
side by a cut, while the handkerchief he used was 
marked a great deal by blood. 

“Why, what’s the matter?” cried the Colonel. 

“Oh, nothing; bit of a scratch. I Slipped and 
fell on the ice.” 

“ Not roped? — where was the guide?” 

“He had gone on. I rather broke down to-day, 
and was obliged to let him finish, as I had prom- 
ised the ladies they should see a signal made.” 

“Better have stopped with them, sir,” said the 
Colonel. 

“Yes,” said Frant, shortly. 

“ Then you went up toward the glacier?” said 
Anderson, quickly. 

“I? Oh, yes. I thought I might as well be 
doing something as wait,” said Frant. 

“ I thought you came from that direction,” said 
Anderson, “ but these valleys twist and double so 
that one gets puzzled. Hallo! Oh, the guide at 
last.” 

For Valter, looking hot and excited, had learned 
the news on his return to the hotel, and came up 
directly to offer his services. 

“You got to the top, Valter?” 

“Yes, Herr; but the news — the schone frduleinT' 

“People have gone after the scoundrels, ” said 
the Colonel, “ I thank you, though, all the same.. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


27 


There, gentlemen! At seven promptly, dinner. 
Bring Deane, and not a ■yvord about the adventure 
to-night.” 

“Very good, sir. But where is Deane? I have 
not heard the rights of it. I came here directly. 
I left him with the ladies.” 

“Up the mountains somewhere, mining, I sup- 
pose. ” 

They were in the veranda now. Just then 
Frant clapped his hand to his cheek, for he had 
felt something warm trickling down. Taking out 
his handkerchief, he held it to his face, and Val- 
ter uttered an exclamation. 

“Well,” said Frant, angrily, “what is it?” 

“The mark on your face, Herr!” said Valter, 
in a husky voice, as he pointed; “the handker- 
chief — the blood!” 


CHAPTER XXXI. 


‘‘Now, don’t be silly, Ecclesia,” cried the Colo- 
nel. “You have lost your watch and chain; I’ve 
told you I’ll give you new ones; and yet you are 
going on in this hysterical way. Look at Hester. ’’ 

“It is not the stupid watch, John,’’ cried Aunt 
Ecclesia. “ Gretchen has just told me : he slipped 
and fell and has hurt himself. ’’ 

“Nonsense!” cried the Colonel with a merry 
look at Hester. “ It was not Valter, but Frant.” 

“ Oh, John, how can you tease me at a time like 
this? Of course, I know it is Frant. And no 
doctor near. ” 

“ Pish ! The doctor he wants is a good meal. 
There he comes, with a yard of sticking plaster 
across his face. Looks a beauty, upon my word. ” 

Aunt Ecclesia hurried to the door as Frant and 
Anderson came up the path. 

“ Oh, Mr. Frant, are you very much hurt?” she 
cried. 

“ No, no — nothing at all. Bit of a cut, and a 
bruise or two.” 

“But, but — you, you should be careful,” cried 
Aunt Ecclesia, hysterically. “You look so dread- 
fully pale. ” 

“Eh?” said Frant, sharply. “Pale?” and he 
looked inquiringly at Hester. 

, 272 


A SECRET QUEST. 


273 


“Yes; you do look pale, Mr. Frant,” she said, 
“ I hope you are not hurt.” 

“Scarcely a bit,” he said, giving her an eager 
grateful look. “ I suppose I was a little shaken.” 

“Wants his dinner,” said the Colonel. “A 
glass of wine will set him right. ” 

“ Will you have one now?" said Aunt Ecclesia. 

“Indeed, no,” he said, gratefully. Then, in a 
low tone, “Don’t fidget about me pray; they are 
noticing it. ” 

Aunt Ecclesia blushed, and turned to Hetty, 
fighting hard to be composed. 

“Where’s Deane?” cried the Colonel, after a 
reference to his watch ; and he looked at Ander- 
son. 

“Mr. Deane?” he replied, and he turned to 
Frant with an inquiring look. 

“I don’t know,” said Frant. “I left him with 
these ladies.” 

“ Mr. Deane went over the mountains toward the 
gorge, away to the right of Piz Luce,” Hester 
said, quietly. 

“ Then he has met Lucy and has stopped to din- 
ner,” said the Colonel, with a laugh. “Well, it’s 
past time. I’m not going to break my regular 
hours for a parcel of wild-goose hunters. Let’s 
have dinner, Ecclesia.” 

“Will you not wait a little longer, papa?” 

•“ No, my dear. Deane has a watch and knows 
my regular habits ; he ought to have been here. ” 

“But it will be so rude, John,” cried Aunt 
Ecclesia. 

18 


274 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Yes, of Mr. Deane. I wouldn’t have waited 
even for Mr. Anderson here. I’ve no patience 
with him. A man has no right to be late on 
parade. Besides, Frant is fainting for that glass 
of wine.” 

“ Indeed, I am not, “ he cried. 

“ Mr. Anderson, will you take in Miss Denton. 
Mr. Frant, my sister. I’ll take myself in, and 
Deane must have his dinner cold.’’ 

The meal passed off very unsatisfactorily, for, 
in spite of her efforts to be calm, Hester grew more 
and more anxious as the time went on, and Aunt 
Ecclesia, whose good resolution on the mountain 
side had melted away, was more than ever dis- 
posed to be hysterical. The events of the past two 
hours had completely thrown her off her balance, 
and her efforts to carry out calmly the duties of 
hostess were miserably weak. 

The Colonel was evidently angry at Deane’s 
non-appearance. This, coming on the top of the 
insult to his sister and child, interfered a good 
deal with the enjoyment of his dinner ; . and though 
he kept passing the wine, it did not animate him, 
but appeared to have a lowering effect. 

Anderson,^ qn the contrary, seemed in excellent 
spirits. After his first glass of champagne, he 
became thoroughly animated and full of anecdote, 
proving himself to be a brilliant dinner table con- 
versationalist, and an adept at filling up awkward 
gaps. To Hester he was the beau ideal of gen- 
tlemanly consideration, chatting to her pleasantly 
and evidently trying to lead her away from her 


A SECRET QUEST. 


275 


troublous thoughts, so that she began to feel grate- 
ful to him. 

She uttered a sigh of relief as Aunt Ecclesia 
gave the customary signal, and they rose to go 
into the other little room. 

“There,” cried the Colonel; “let us see what a 
cigar will do. Come, Frant, fill your glass and 
pass the claret to Mr. Anderson. Hang that fel- 
low Deane, ” he continued, as he reached down a 
cigar box and passed it to his guests, “ I believe 
as soon as he gets mooning about up in the moun- , 
tains he forgets everything. Well, Anderson, 
what did you do after I came for my nap?” 

“ Went in for a ramble, and tried all the stones 
and tree trunks I could for a comfortable seat, till 
I ran against Mr. Frant. Then we came back to- 
gether, and as soon as we heard the news at the 
hotel we came on here.” 

“ Ah, to be sure, yes. Your cigar’s out, Frant — 
try another. That one does not draw well.” 

“Oh, thanks,” cried Frant hastily, for he had 
been sitting back paying no heed to what was 
going on. 

“ That one draw, Frant? Ha! Here he is!” 

There was a step outside, and both Anderson 
and Frant started and exchanged glances. 

“ Shall I punish him, and make him ^o without 
his dinner; or be merciful and let him have his 
cold scraps?” 

“I think I should err on the side of mercy,” 
said Anderson, smiling. “We have all dined 
well.” 


276 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Yes, I will. He has punished himself. Well, 
Deane " 

The Colonel stopped short, for it was Gretchen 
who opened the door. 

“ Is that Mr. Deane?” 

“No, Herr; Valter.” 

“Eh?” cried Fran t, excitedly. “What does he 
want?” 

“ Send him here,” cried the Colonel ; “ and let’s 
give him a glass of wine.” 

Directly after the guide came to the door. 

“Well, Valter, my lad?” said the Colonel. 

“The Herr?” he said; “the Herr Deane?” 

“Not come back yet,” said Frant. “Or have 
you brought a message?” 

“ No; no message. He is not here?” 

“ Is not this strange, Mr. Frant?” said the Colo- 
nel, for it now struck him that his child would 
soon begin to grow uneasy. 

“Yes; he ought to have been back by now. 
He must have stopped hunting too long in that 
pld gorge.” 

“I dare say he will be back soon,” observed 
Anderson, quietly. “Of course, he knows every 
step of the way?” 

“Yes; the Herr knows all the way,” said Val- 
ter; “but he should have been back.” 

“ Well, have a glass of wine, my lad, and go and 
meet him. Tell him we are expecting him here.” 

The guide put aside the wine with an impatient 
sigh. 

“ Who saw him go?” he said. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


277 


“ My daughter.’' 

“Yes, Miss Denton said she saw him walk to- 
ward the deep gorge, Valter,” said Frant, rising. 
“ Had we not better go and look for him?” 

“ I don’t know, Herr. I am not sure. He 
ought not to have gone alone ; and yet he knew 
the way so well. But there is another thing that 
troubles me. I cannot tell, but has he gone after 
those men?” 

The Colonel gave the table a bang with his 
hand, and made the glasses leap. 

“ Of course,” he cried, with his face lighting up, 
so satisfying was the thought in every way. “ He 
heard of the scoundrels — perhaps saw what, took 
place — and went in pursuit. ” 

Frant uttered a sigh of relief, and Anderson 
smiled. * 

“ What do 5^ou say?” cried the Colonel. 

“ It seems more than probable,” said Anderson. 
“ Of course, he is young and chivalrous, and if he 
heard of the assault he would pursue them at 
once. ” 

“ And a deal more manly a thing than sitting 
down to a good dinner,” said the Colonel, warmly. 
“No reflection on you, gentlemen, for I insisted 
upon the search being left to the proper hands. 
But I hope the poor fellow will not come up with 
them alone.” 

“ If the Herr Colonel thinks so, then,” said Val- 
ter, “ I will go in search of Herr Deane. ” 

“Yes; and if you will excuse me, sir, I’ll go 
with him,” said Frant. 


278 


A SECRET QUEST. 


The Colonel hesitated a moment or two, then 
nodded in his short military way. 

“Yes,” he said; “perhaps it will be better. 
Where shall you make for?” 

“Over the mountains to Denarlier, sir, ” said 
Valter. 

“ But that is many miles away.” 

“ Five hours, sir; but we may meet Herr Deane 
at any time.” 

“ I am sorry to let you go, Mr. Frant; but it is 
a duty to your friend. I would offer to accom- 
pany you but I should only be a hindrance.” 

“ There is no need, sir,” cried Frant. “ No, no, 
Mr. Anderson, you need not come. ” 

“ I certainly am not going to let you start alone, 
Mr. Frant,” said Anderson warmly. “ Let’s be off 
at once before the daylight has faded.” 

“You will excuse us to the ladies, sir,”. said 
Frant. 

“There will be no need; they will be most 
grateful.” 

Anderson bowed, and they passed out at once 
by the French window, and were half way down 
the path, with the Colonel watching them, when 
the door was thrown open hastily, and the two 
ladies hurried in. 

“Surely, John, ’’cried Aunt Ecclesia, “you have 
not quarrelled with Mr. Frant?” 

“Absurd! as if I ever quarrelled with any one.” 

“ But they are gone.” 

“ Mr. Deane has not yet come back. ” 

“Oh, papa!” exclaimed Hester, excitedly. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


279 


“Now, now, now: don’t be a goose, child,” 
cried the Colonel, testily. “What’s the matter? 
Do yoii think he has fallen off a mountain? He 
has not come back, and we have come to the con- 
clusion that he has gone in pursuit of those mod- 
ern Fra Diavoli, and I hope he will catch them 
and break their necks.” 

“Gone? * After them?” 

“Yes; and the proper thing to do, isn’t it?” 

“ Is there no danger?” 

“Tchah, danger! He has right on his side. 
Wasn’t it the best and bravest thing to do?” 

Hester could only answer “Yes.” 

“A set of cowardly Italian roughs. Why, if 
even old I had been there they dared not have 
looked at you. I never thought so much of Deane 
before. Now I think he’s a deuced manly young 
fellow — gone after those four scoundrels like that ! 
Shows he has got his heart in the right place. 
Thoroughly plucky. I suppose I shall begin to 
like him after all.” 

Hester said nothing, but her arm stole round 
her father’s neck, and her head lay on his breast, 
while Aunt Ecclesia stood with the tears in her 
eyes. * 


CHAPTER XXXIL 


“Well, papa?” 

It was breakfast time the next morning. The 
Colonel had risen early and walked down to the 
hotel. 

“No news yet, my dear; they haven’t come 
back.” 

Hester sighed, but tried to look cheerful ; and 
soon after, when alone with Aunt Ecclesia, she 
assumed a light-hearted manner that she did not 
feel on seeing that lady’s saddened face. 

“Why, aunt dear,” she said, “what is the 
matter?” 

“Oh, nothing, my dear, only one cannot help 
feeling anxious about the gentlemen. ” 

There were one or two little' matters to break 
the monotony of waiting for news. One was the 
arrival of a police official from the nearest town 
to take a list of the stolen jewelry, the amount 
in the purses, and a description of the men. 

This individual impressed strongly upon the 
Colonel the great concern that was felt respecting 
the robbery and assault upon an English family, 
and assured him that nothing should be left un- 
done to insure the punishment of the offenders. 

“Bother!” the Colonel exclaimed as soon as they 
were alone. “I’d a great deal rather go down to 
280 


A SECRET QUEST. 


281 


the hotel to ask for news of our friends. By the 
way, Hester, my dear,” he said, as Aunt Ecclesia 
left the room, “ Anderson is behaving very well. 
You and I, my dear, are cursed with suspicious 
temperaments. He is a gentleman.” 

Hester colored, and was about to speak out fully 
regarding all that had passed betvreen her and her 
father’s friend, but Aunt Ecclesia came back, and 
the desire to speak died out. 

“ Don’t you think you might go to the hotel 
again, and ask for news, dear?” asked the little 
lady. 

“Yes, I might go now,” said the Colonel; and 
he went, to return directly with the information 
that the first party who had gone in pursuit of the 
excavators had returned without overtaking them, 
bnt the police onward were in pursuit. 

“ And I begin to hope that they will not catch 
them, my dears,” grumbled the Colonel, “for I 
don’t want to appear against them, and to have 
you two dragged up as accusers. There, I’m go- 
ing to have my momiftg cigar. I shall not be far 
away.” 

“ Hetty,” said Aunt Ecclesia rather huskily, and 
there was a rosy bloom in her cheeks, “do you 
think it would be undignified if we walked up the 
mountain track in the direction the gentlemen took 
last evening?” 

“ Yes, aunt, dear. I am as eager to learn news 
of them as you are; but I think we ought to stay.” 

“Oh, Hetty!” cried Aunt Ecclesia, bursting into 
tears, “don’t look at me like that.” 


282 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Auntie!” 

“ But you did, dear, and it gives me horrible 
pain. I ought to be checking you and playing 
propriety. ” 

“Aunt, dear,” said Hester, passing her arm 
round her companion’s waist, “you are so very 
little older than I am, that I think you might take 
me more into your confidence.” 

“ No, no ; I cannot, my dear. And — and there 
is nothing at all.” 

“ But don’t you feel that I must know better?” 

“Oh, no, Hetty, my dear. You must not know 
better. It is all a foolish fancy — on your part. 
But, of course, I cannot help feeling uncomfortable 
about the gentlemen your father has made his 
friends, especially on your account.” ’ 

“Yes, aunt, on my account,” said Hester, with 
a sigh, and they both took their work and seated 
themselves where they could see the mountain 
track along which those who returned from the 
search must pass. 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 


• The tediously long day had nearly come to an 
end, when there was a shout raised at the hotel, 
followed directly after by the report of cannon, 
and the occupants of the chalet hurried out to see, 
higher up on the steep slope, the figures of the re- 
turning party. 

“Here — my glass, Hetty,” cried the Colonel; 
and she darted in to return with the binocular. 

“Is — is he there, papa?” she panted eagerly. 

“ Frant — the guide helping Anderson, who seems 
footsore. Perhaps Deane is on in front, among 
the trees,” said the Colonel, with the glass to his 
eyes. 

Hester’s brow contracted, and she drew back 
into the house. She felt that Deane was not there. 
And so it proved. The party had been right 
across to the town in the valley beyond the group 
of mountains, and both in going and returning ex- 
amined the various gorges and slopes — every spot, 
in fact, where by accident a wayfarer could have 
fallen ; but the only news they bore was that the 
party of excavators had been seen twice — the last 
time going in the direction of one of the rarely 
used passes which led from the Valais into Italy. 

“ Then where can Deane be?” cried the Colonel ; 
and his words reached Hester, who was standing 
283 


284 


A SECRET QUEST. 


in the little dining-room, hidden from sight by 
the side of the open window. 

“I don’t know what to say,” replied Frant. 

“ Valter thinks he must have gone into one of 
the ravines they have not yet explored,” said An- 
derson. 

“Then, in Heaven’s name, get men together, ■ 
and let’s have everyplace well searched,” cried 
the Colonel. 

“Yes, sir, we were coming back to the hotel to 
get some refreshment and help. It is nearly full 
moon to-night,” said Frant. 

“I’ll join you,” cried the Colonel. “The poor 
fellow must be found.” 

The party moved off, Anderson limping so that 
it was evident that he could do no more. 

“ If I were only young and strong again, Eccle- 
sia,” cried the Colonel, as they entered the house. 

“ But that poor fellow must be found. Ah, Hetty, 
my darling, you there?” 

She stood gazing at him piteously for a moment 
or two, and then, after a struggle she cried pas- 
sionately : — 

“Yes, father, he must be found — or I shall die!” 

“ Is it so bad as that, Hetty?” he said gently, as 
he held her to him and softly smoothed her hair. 

“ Come, come, we don’t know that there’s anything 
wrong; and if there is perhaps it’s only a sprained 
ankle. These mountaineering fellows do not mind 
a night or two in the fresh air.” 

“ It’s very good of you to talk like that, father,” 
she said, trying hard to be calm ; “ but as he went 


A SECRET QUEST. 


285 

down the mountain side toward that deep black 
place, I seemed to be bidding him good-by for- 
ever. ” 

-Imagination, pet,” said the old man, tenderly. 
“ That’s trying to foretell things after a fashion, 
so I shall turn prophet and tell you that before long 
he will be back safe and sound, and we shall all 
be laughing at the fright he gave you!” 

Two days passed, during which the mountains 
were searched, Frant and Valter being out con- 
stantly with quite a band of guides, who came, 
many of them, from a distance to help in the 
hunt. 

Anderson was footsore, and suffered in addition 
from a sprain ; but he went heart and soul into the 
business, beginning by promising fifty pounds to 
the man who should find Deane. The Colonel 
offered a similar sum. 

Frant only came up once to the chalet — to be met 
at the door by Hester, who caught his hands, ask- 
ing him imploringly for the news he could not give. 
He turned from her with a strange guilty look, 
and soon after went away and came no more, but 
spent every hour he could snatch from sleep lead- 
ing and , directing the men. On the fourth day 
after Deane’s disappearance, when the police 
search for the excavators was at an end, the men 
having apparently got over the mountains and 
back to their own place, it was determined to make 
a fresh start, the Colonel accompanying the party. 
They gathered under the leadership of Frant and 
Valter just at the spot pointed out by Hester and 


286 


A SECRET QUEST, 


Aunt Ecclesia as that where they had seen Deane 
disappear. 

“It seems only like a recapitulation,” said the 
Colonel, as they stood debating their next step; 
“ but it is evident we have missed some point, so let 
us see. This gentleman has disappeared, and of 
the reasons open to us we have first — accident. 
He may have slipped into som^e chasm, or perhaps 
only into some little crevice, and we may have 
passed him again and again. Next, he may have 
known of the assault committed by those men, 
overtaken them, been overcome, and is lying dead 
somewhere with stones piled over him. There 
seems to be no other explanation of his disappear- 
ance.” 

“No,” said Frant, sadly; and Valter gave him 
a curious look. 

“I differ from you,” said Anderson, who had 
climbed so far by the. help of his old enemy — the 
mule. “It seems to me,” said Anderson, “that 
there are two other explanations.” 

“ In Heaven’s name what?” cried the Colonel, 

“ First, sir,” replied Anderson, “ there is the pos- 
sibility of the poor fellow having excited some 
one’s enmity, or say jealousy, and in a quarrel 
having been thrust into one of the crevasses.'' 

“ But that is a similar explanation to the other,” 
cried the Colonel, who turned from Anderson 
dirctly after, attracted by the ghastly pallor on 
Frant ’s face. “ We said he might have been thrust 
down by those Italians. But jealousy! — pooh!” 

“ Perhaps you are right, sir.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 287 

“I’m sure I am. We have to deal with men— 
not devils. Well, what is your other theory?” 

’“A very untenable one, I’m afraid; but it is 
possible that Mr. Deane had reasons for disap- 
pearing.” 

“What?” cried the Colonel with a blank look. 

“Of course, it is mere supposition,” continued 
Anderson ; ‘‘ but at any rate, we must be now on a 
wrong track.” 

“ Reasons for disappearing — reasons for disap- 
pearing!” cried the Colonel, his suspicious nature 
became roused, and he recalled his last interview 
with Deane. “ Oh, no,” he said, mastering his un- 
worthy thoughts, “impossible!” 

“Yes,” said Anderson, “it must be impossi- 
ble, for what reason could Mr. Deane have for dis- 
appearing of his own accord? Of course; it is 
absurd.” 

“ Let us begin by going straight for the glacier,” 
said the Colonel in a tone of authority. 

Frant started and looked at him blankly. 

“ But Miss Denton saw him going in quite an- 
other direction,” he said. 

“I know that, sir; but he could have returned 
that way, and fallen into one of the crevasses." 

“Impossible!” said Frant, warmly. “He knew 
his way too well, and was too good a moun- 
taineer. ” 

“We all make slips, Mr. Frant, ’’said Anderson. 

“ Yes, of course, but ” 

“ The Herr Colonel is right,” said Valter firmly. 
“We have never half searched there.” 


288 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ Because it was foolish to do so, ’ ’ said Frant. 
“ What are you thinking of? ” 

“My duty,” said Valter, taking off his hat and 
stepping forward. “ Sir, I have served you for 
months, and I loved you as a brother. I have 
taken your pay, but I have worked for you in all 
brotherhood, and you know that I have risked and 
would again risk my life to save yours. ” 

“Yes, Valter, I believe it,” said Frant. 

“ But the time has come when I must speak out. 
I am an ignorant man, but I am not blind. I 
speak though it tears me to the heart to have to 
believe such things — to speak against a man I 
have loved ; but I must speak now, if only for the 
sake of the dear lady breaking her heart there 
down below in the chalet.'' 

“You — you know something,” cried the Colo- 
nel. “ What is it, man?” 

“God forgive me, if I am wrong,” said Valter 
piously; “and you, too, forgive me, Mr. Frant.” 

“Speak out if you know anything,” said Frant, 
who was very haggard now. 

“ I must, sir. I know that you dearly love that 
sweet young lady.” 

“What!” cried Frant, furiously; and he took a 
step forward, but the Colonel raised his hand. 

“ Let him say all he has to say.” 

“ Yes ; he cannot deny it. I have seen it a hun- 
dred times. He loved her as much as my other 
dear master, Mr. Deane.” 

“The man is mad!” said Frant, wildly. 

“ No, sir, I am a man and have seen everything. 


A SECRKT QUEST. 


289 


But why should you not love her? I loved her — 
we all did.” 

“Yes, yes!” came in a murmured chorus. 

“ But as we would love one of God’s good angels, 
and there is not a man in these valleys who would 
not be ready to give his life for the sweet English 
lady who these months past has been as sunshine 
in our land.” 

There was another murmur of approval. 

“Go on, man; what does this mean?” said the 
Colonel hoarsely, and evidently deeply moved. 

“ I say, then, the herr loved the English maiden, 
and the devil tempted him in his bitter jealousy 
to keep a smiling brotherly face toward Mr. 
Deane, while at the first opportunity he was ready 
to strike and remove his rival from his path.” 

“ This is utter madness,” cried Frant, excitedly. 

“It is the truth, sir,” said Valter, sadly. 
“ Have you not always kept us back from search- 
ing the big crevasses?” 

“Yes,” cried Frant. “The idea was too horri- 
ble, and it was impossible he could be there. 
Valter, this is a cruel charge from you.” 

“Yes,” said the guide, “cruel and bitter. I 
loved you, sir ; but I loved that good, brave, ten- 
der-hearted gentleman too.” 

“ Yes, a terrible charge,” said the Colonel, while 
Anderson rested his hand on one of the guide’s 
shoulders. “ But all this, my man, is supposition. 
What you say is news to me. Mr. Frant, it is not 
fair to you to ask if it is true. ” 

“Yes; a part is true,” said Frant, with his face 

19 


290 


A SECRET QUEST. 


flushing and his eyes lighting up. “ I confess that 
I did dearly love Miss Denton from the first day I 
saw her; but I soon knew that she loved my 
friend, and that he was as warmly devoted to her; 
so I held my peace — I hid it all in my breast. 
But as to this man’s charge, that I have raised 
my hand against one who has always been a 
brother to me, it is as false as it is ridiculous. He 
believes it, but the man’s half mad in his devotion 
to poor Adam Deane.” 

“Then, sir, how came that cut upon face?” said 
Valter sadly — “the blood upon your handker- 
chief?” 

“ I told you — I fell, and the blood was my 
own,” said Frant, contemptuously. 

“Then why, sir, did you hang back that day 
and send me up Piz Luce alone?” 

Frant’s jaw dropped, and a deadly silence 
seemed to come over the group. 

“Oh, this is absurd,” he said aloud. “I was 
tired and disappointed. My friend had refused to 
come, and I promised the ladies they should see 
the signal. So I sent Valter up alone, and waited 
about thinking. Yes, of course, I met Mr. An- 
derson here as I came back. You remember, sir?” 

“Yes,” said Anderson, hesitating; “I remem- 
ber meeting Mr. Frant, and he told me his guide 
was up the peaks.” 

“Where did you meet Mr. Frant?” said the 
Colonel sternly. 

“ He was just coming down the gorge from the 
glacier.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


29T 


There was another and more terrible silence, 
Frant, as suspicious circumstances one after an- 
other began to hem him in, gazing wildly from 
face to face, each growing cold and stern, eyes that 
had always looked frankly in his being averted. 

“Oh!” he cried at last, “this is horrible! You 
all suspect me. Valter, my lad, what have you 
said?” 

The guide laid his hand upon his breast for a 
moment, and then his lips parted. 

“That which it was my duty to say, Herr. 
Thinking what I did — knowing what I did — I 
could hold my peace no longer. God forgive me 
if I am wrong — forgive you, sir,, if it is true!” 

Frant seemed to grow calm as he looked de- 
fiantly round at those who seemed to be shrinking 
from him. 

“It is not true!” he roared. “In Heaven’s 
name come and see.” 

He led the way down the precipitous slope, fol- 
lowed by the whole party. The Colonel seemed 
to have forgotten his years ; the excitement helped 
Anderson; while the stern-looking guides hung 
round Valter, some with their baldric-like coils of 
rope across their broad chests, others carrying 
short ladders, such as are used for crossing cre- 
vasses or some yawning berg schruiid. 

It was a toilsome climb and descent, repeated 
many times, before they reached the gorge, and 
began to tramp along by the foaming torrent of 
icy muddy water which came thundering out of 
the ice grotto at the glacier foot. 


292 


A SECRET QUEST. 


On reaching this Frant stood peering into the 
cavern, with its turquoise and amethystine blue 
walls, then, beginning to climb up the side, he 
made the iCe ring as he struck it with his axe. 
He clambers up among the crags and terraces 
which threatened to fall and crush the party, never 
once looking back, but letting them struggle after 
him — ever on and on, higher and higher, up the 
solid cascade which now filled the gorge, till the 
rock at the side had to be mounted, the snow 
completely barring the way. Up this nearly per- 
pendicular rock face Frant went like a goat, 
closely followed by Valter, who paused at the top 
to unroll and lower his rope, by whose help the 
other guides came, and, using their own ropes, 
the Colonel and Anderson were hauled up to the 
top. 

By this time Frant had descended again to the 
glacier, and going now slowly, he stopped at 
crevasse after crevasse^ blue and yawning, leaping 
some, going round the end of others, and after a 
hasty, glance down, passing on with contempt- 
uous indifference. 

He paused at last at the edge of one far larger, 
and seated himself on a block of stone which had 
journeyed down from miles above them. As the 
party straggled up to where he was, Frant turned 
to Valter. 

“ Help me,” he said ; and he seized the stone. 

The guide guessed his intent, and bending down 
the two turned the stone over and over till it fell 
down the yawning blue crack, to strike one side, 


A SECRET QUEST. 


293 


then the other, and send up crashing hollow re- 
verberating echoes which slowly died away, An- 
derson turning pale as he glanced down the chasm 
of ice. 

“Well,” said Frant, mockingly; “is that a 
likely place for a man to murder his friend? Shall 
some of us take a lantern and rope and go down?” 

There was no answer, and he laughed bitterly. 

“Come on,” he cried; and he led again, in and 
out of the labyrinth of cracks, higher and higher, 
till the sound of waters falling came rumbling 
and reverberating to their ears. 

All followed him, for to a man they realized 
that it would be impossible to search the hun- 
dreds of crevasses^ and that only by accident could 
they, if Valter’s supposition was right, hit upon 
the one which contained the body. But by a kind 
of instinct they seemed to know where Frant was 
leading them, and no one was surprised to see 
him halt at last by the great rift called by the 
guides the Moulin, where the torrent turned almost 
at right angles on to the ice, over which it flowed 
in a self-worn bed to where it poured into the cre- 
vasse, in one vast cascade, to tunnel its way be- 
neath and issue from the ice grotto miles below. 

“There,” cried Frant; “that is the spot where a 
man would murder his friend — where the track 
crosses. Now, then, ropes. Who goes down? 
What, no volunteers? Rope and lantern, then, 
ril go down.” 

He had hardly uttered the words when a deafen- 
ing peal of thunder followed a vivid flash of light- 


294 


A SECRET QUEST. 


ning, and, as the storm gathered, there was only- 
one course open — retreat, if they wished to avoid 
what would evidently be a terrible tempest. 

“ Impossible to search to-day, sir,” cried Valter, 
and the whole party returned drenched to the 
hotel, the Colonel going on home with his head in 
a whirl. 

Valter’s words had not impressed him so much 
as Anderson’s. He could not rid himself of a 
thought which had come upon him with a re- 
newal of his old suspicions. After telling sister 
and child that there was no news as yet — for he 
dared not speak of the terrible charge — he lit a 
cigar, and shut himself in alone, to try and think 
the matter out. The idea grew more and more 
fixed, till at last he started up suddenly and struck 
the table with his fist. 

“The scoundrel!” he cried. “My first sus- 
picions were right. An emissary of that black- 
guard lord.” 

“Who is, papa?” said a voice at his back, for 
Hester had entered unheard, leaving the door 
ajar. 

“Adam Deane.” 

“ And why, pray?” she said, coldly. 

“ I placed in his hands my case containing those 
letters. I was afraid of being robbed, and I 
thought he was not likely to be suspected of hold- 
ing them.” 

“Your case, papa?” said Hester, coldly. 

“Yes; my cigar case. There is a secret pocket 
in the side. I gave it to Adam Deane the day he 


A SECRET QUEST. 


295 


disappeared. The scoundrel ! He knew ; and he 
has escaped with it to London — to his employer, 
Lord ” 

“Absurd!” cried Hester. 

“Mr. Anderson, you there!” cried Aunt Ec- 
clesia, wildly, as she rushed up to the door and 
drew it open, showing Anderson, pale and 
strange, standing as it were framed, where he 
must have heard every word. 

“Speak!” continued Aunt Ecclesia. “Mr. 
Frant — Gretchen — this horrid news ! Hush, John. 
Tell me it is not true. Mr. Frant arrested for 
Adam Deane’s murder! Mr. Anderson, is it so?” 

His lips parted twice before he could speak; 
then with a commiserating look at Hester he 
said : — 

“Yes, madam, just now, at the hotel. It is 
true.” 

Aunt Ecclesia uttered a wild shriek, and Hester 
stood with her hands clasped to her brows as if 
she had been stunned. 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 


The news was true enough, as the Colonel found 
on reaching the hotel, after leaving his people 
completely stunned by the strokes which had fallen 
so rapidly one upon the other. 

Valter’s words had not been without effect. The 
information had been carried to the police, who 
did not scruple to make a seizure at once. 

The Colonel had pleaded and then stormed and 
appealed to Mr. Anderson for his help. It was 
all a piece of mad folly, he was sure. He had 
not a doubt in his own mind where Deane was — 
safe back in England, of course. 

But while he was protesting to people who re- 
ceived his words upon their impenetrable official 
armor, a man higher in authority arrived from the 
principal town. 

He heard the Colonel politely and referred him 
to the nearest English consul ; but instead of plac- 
ing any faith in what had been said, he ordered 
that men should be ready at daylight to thoroughly 
search the crevasse. 

“News, my darling?” said the Colonel on re- 
turning. “None as yet; but Hester, I fear that I 
am right. My suspicions were aroused when I 
first met those two, and I can stake my life upon it 
that Deane has escaped with the Princess’ letters.” 

296 


A SECRET QUEST. 


297 


“Papa, dear,” cried Hester, looking at him 
wildly; “you make me mad with this suspicion.” 

“ Hetty!” 

“ I must speak, father,” she cried. “You have 
dwelt so on the fear of people following you that 
it has become a mania. Could you not see in 
every act, and feel in every word, that Adam 
Deane was a gentleman and the soul of honor? See 
how he risked his life for us.” 

“ Only to achieve his end. He and his com- 
panion are adventurers.” 

“It is not true!” cried Aunt Ecclesia. “Mr. 
Frant could not have done what they say.” 

The Colonel was silent. 

“ Why don’t you speak, father, and set poor aunt 
at rest. Tell her that Mr. Frant could iTot have 
done this thing.” 

The Colonel recalled all he had heard. — remem- 
bered Frant’s declaration of his love — and with 
complications seeming to grow more entangled, 
he uttered a low sigh. 

But he was not allowed to rest. 

“ Tell her, papa,” cried Hester. “ She is suffer- 
ing cruelly. It is as absurd that poor Mr. Frant 
should raise his hand against his friend as it is to 
brand Adam as a common thief.” 

The Colonel groaned. 

“Then I will tell her,” cried Hester. “Aunt, 
dear, Mr. Frant is the dearest, truest friend that 
ever lived, and papa has let himself be led away 
by these foolish charges till he does not know 
what to believe himself.” 


2gS 


A SECRET QUEST. 


The Colonel looked at his child piteously — quite 
unnerved. 

“ I’m — I’m afraid you are right, Hetty,” he said, 
with all his dictatorial fierceness gone. “Don’t 
be hard on me, my dear. I can only judge by 
what I know.” 

“ And what do you know beside the silly tattle . 
of these people?” 

“ That Deane has gone with my case containing 
the letters. It was a foolish thing to give them 
to him ; but I thought they would be safe in his 
hands.” 

“And how could Mr. Deane know that there 
were two letters concealed in the lining of the 
ease?” 

“Ah, that has puzzled me.” 

“Father,” cried Hester, passionately, “can you 
not see how childish all this is? I have reminded 
you before that Adam Deane was here first, and 
could not have known of our coming. If you 
think an enemy has done this, you must look else- 
where.” 

“ Ah ! Then you have suspicions?” 

“Yes — no,” she cried, wildly. “I dare not 
think.” 

“ But you think still that Deane has been killed?” 

“ I will not think that ; but I am sure some ter- 
rible accident has befallen him, or he would have 
been here.” 

The Colonel pressed his hand to his feverish 
head, and looked pityingly at his child, who now 
knelt down at his feet. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


299 


“Father, dear,” she said, “I am trying to be 
strong, and to act like a brave, true woman ; but 
it is so hard — so hard!” 

“My darling! I know,” he said, embracing 
her. 

“I dread to say what I think — I shrink from 
telling you my horrible suspicions.” 

“ Better tell me, dear,” said the old man, gazing 
at her vacantly. “ What is it you do think?” 

“ That Adam has been killed. ” 

“Yes, dear,” he said, feebly, “been killed ” 

“ By the man who dared to love me, and who 
under the cloak of false friendship has followed 
him till he could strike some cowardly blow.” 

The Colonel looked at his child nervously. 

“You don’t believe .me, father.” 

“Yes — yes I do,” he cried, hastily. “I think — 
I feel now that you must be right. It is what they 
are saying. Poor fellow — yes, he loved you too. 
And you thought this?” 

“About Mr. Frant? Oh! father — dear father — 
why will you be so blind? Mr. Anderson has in- 
sulted me again and again with his declarations 
of love.” 

“What!” cried the Colonel, springing to his 
feet, as he felt that there was something tangible 
at last. 

“ I — I dared not tell you before. It was coward- 
ly, but I was afraid, and — Oh, father, I was too 
happy to think of anything else but him who loved 
me, and it all seemed to be over. But now I am 
sure — it was he who struck the blow and—” 


300 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Oh! dear lady, dear lady, come to her — pray 
come!” 

“ Gretchen,” cried Hester, springing to her feet, 
as the girl entered the room. 

“ Madame is half mad, and is dressing herself 
to go down to the hotel!” 


CHAPTER XXXV. 


Colonel Denton joined the party who started 
for the glacier. The chief of the police, who had 
been reinforced by two more men in the night, 
left one in charge of the prisoner, who later on 
was to be conveyed to the chief city of the Com- 
mune. The guides, headed by Valter, were in 
force, and Anderson was up and ready to form 
one of the band, which later on was to assemble 
at the brink of the crevasse. 

Troubled in mind by his child’s words, the 
Colonel shrank from encountering Anderson, 
though everything as they went on began to 
strengthen him in his belief that Hester’s were wild 
utterances — as wild as he felt his own had been. 
But he was spared all trouble on Anderson’s ac- 
count, for the latter, looking pale and intent, 
bowed to him without speaking, and attached 
himself to the leading party of the guides. 

At last the glacier was reached, the toilsome 
climb up its slippery surface had been ended, and 
in almost complete silence the searchers gathered 
at the side of the great crevasse, some iittle dis- 
tance from where the torrent poured in. The chief 
of the Commune police now spoke out. 

“It is a waste of time, and folly,” he said, peer- 
301 


302 


A SECRET QUEST. 


ing down. “ What ground have you for thinking 
the English Herr is down here?” 

“None that he is here,” said Valter; “but he 
may be down one of the crevasses.” 

“Well, then, if a man fell, or was thrown down 
there, is it possible to get him out?” 

Valter gazed down and then shook his head. 

“I think not,” he said. “It seems impossible. 
But light a lantern and join some ropes. I will 
go down and see.” 

“ What for?” 

“ He might have lodged on some shelf of ice, 
and the English Herr ought to rest in holy ground. ” 

“Amen,” was murmured softly. 

“ Double the ropes and join them well,” said the 
official. “ Light a lantern, one of you. They 
shall not say we have not done our duty. Go 
down and try.” 

There were a few busy minutes of preparation, 
and the chief of the police said sharply, 

“ Light another lantern, and lower it first. ” 

The preparations were made, and all bent for- 
ward and gazed intently as the light was lowered 
fifty — a hundred — two hundred feet, shining feebly 
on glistening walls of pure ice, and making what 
seemed to be a heavy fall of rain glisten and 
sparkle. 

All at once the light went out. 

The lantern was hastily drawn up. It was 
seen that rope and lantern were dripping with 
water. 

“You see,” said the official; “the crevasse nar- 


A SECRET QUEST. 


303 


rows, and the falling water is dashed from the 
side. It is madness to go down. Will you try?” 

“Yes,” said Valter, firmly. “I cannot give up 
without a trial. He was my good master, and we 
shared many dangers. He would have gone down 
for me. Ready?” 

“ Ready.” 

A thrill of horror ran through the Colonel, and 
he stepped to where the guide stood, silently 
holding out his hand. 

The man’s face lit up as he eagerly grasped it. 
He then drew back, made a sign to the others, 
and, seating himself on the edge of the vast cleft, 
he grasped the rope with one hand, his ice axe 
with the other to steady his descent, and with the 
light suspended from his belt he was lowered 
steadily down. 

Every neck was craned as half-a-dozen pairs of 
strong arms steadily lowered down the rope till 
Valter was seen to go from light into twilight 
and then into bluish darkness. 

The candle burned clearly, and they caught 
glimpses of the guide’s face as he swung to and 
fro, thrusting himself from the sides to avoid the 
edges of the jagged crack. 

Not a word was spoken ; even men held their 
breath and strained their sense of hearing for the 
descending man’s order as to raising or lowering. 

Suddenly the light became indistinct, then dis- 
appeared, altogether fully two hundred feet below. 

“Well?” shouted the chief of the police ; “shall 
we haul up?” 


304 


A SECRET QUEST. 


There was no reply, no sign of the rope being 
agitated. 

“Quick; draw tip,“ cried the officer, sharply; 
and Valter was rapidly hauled to the surface, the 
lamp out, and his head and arms hanging inert by 
his side, while the water streamed from him as if 
he had been lowered into a well. 

The rope was taken from about his chest, and 
brandy held to his lips, but for some minutes he 
made no sign. By degrees he opened his eyes, 
closed them as if the bright sunlight gave him 
pain, and then reopened them to gaze wildly 
round. 

“ How is it with you, my lad?” said the Colo- 
nel, kindly, as he bent over him. 

“The water,” he said, faintly; “the water 
stunned and strangled me.” 

“Yes,” said the chief; “that has proved it. 
Coil up your ropes, men. It is an impossibility.” 

“ But surely you will not give up like that?” said 
Anderson, excitedly. 

“Yes, sir; I will not risk any other man’s life,” 
said the official. 

“ It is a duty, ” cried Anderson excitedly. “ The 
body must be found. A hundred napoleons to 
the man who brings him up.” 

“Then Monsieur feels sure that he is down 
there?” 

“Yes; absolutely sure,” cried Anderson. “He 
must be found. A hundred napoleons, I say.” 

There was no reply. 

“Two hundred,” cried Anderson excitedly. 


305 


A SECRET QU^T. 

Still no reply. 

“Three hundred napoleons — four hundred — five 
hundred,” cried Anderson, as Valter rose to his 
feet once more and shuddered. 

“ What !” cried Anderson, “ are you all cowards?” 

“ No, Herr,” said the young guide quietly; “ we 
would any of us go down for love of the poor 
young lady yonder and of him who is dead, if it 
were possible. But there is a horrible whirl of 
water down there; and what are five hundred 
napoleons to a man who is drawn up dead! Some 
of them have wives, but their wives would rather 
have their men.” 

“Right, Valter, my lad,” said the chief of the 
police. “ It is not to be done.” 

“Not to be done?” cried Anderson. “Then 
when will the body be found?” 

“ Fifty years hence, when the ice here has ground 
its way down into the valley, and his bones are 
cast forth,” said Valter — “unless he has already 
been swept out of the ice grotto at the glacier 
foot.” 

“ Then we may find him there.” 

“ No, Herr,” said Valter; “ if he has been swept 
through the icy tunnel, he has gone down the 
river and over the falls, and from there into the 
lake. ” 

“ Then the lake shall be dragged,” cried Ander- 
son. “ Money shall not stand in the way of re- 
covering his remains.” 

The chief of the police shrugged his shoulders 
and turned to the Colonel. 


20 


3o6 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Impossible, Monsieur,” he said. “The lake 
is a thousand feet deep where the river rushes 
in.” 

Ten minutes later the party began to descend 
the river of ice, pausing at crevasse after crevasse, 
but in a hopeless way ; for all felt that nothing 
could be done, and Anderson’s eyes, as they met 
the Colonel’s, were full of despair. 


CHAPTER XXXVI. 


“It’s a curious thing,” said Adam Deane, to 
himself, as he leaped down from the rock upon 
which he had stood to wave his ice-axe to Hester; 
“ but only a few weeks ago I was in full pursuit 
of what Aleck calls my myth. There seemed to 
be only one thing in the world then worth pursuit. 
Now I am going in search of the old gold work- 
ings — just to fill up time, and to get away into the 
solitude of these mountains to dream and think of 
her — to try and keep down all this wild joy which 
nearly drives me mad. 

“God bless her!” he cried aloud, with quite a 
joyous shout. “ God bless the whole world! God 
bless everybody and everything in it ! Oh! what 
a happy lunatic I feel ! Listen, you great, hoary, 
silver-crowned mountains, and you dark, gloomy 
chasms, with your rocks and caves. She loves 
me, she loves me, and you all look beautiful, as if 
my darling had turned everything into a paradise. 

“There!” he cried, after leaping and bounding 
down the steep slope in all the vigor of his early 
manhood. “ I must do something to let off the 
steam, for I am in love — in love, and — oh ! thank 
God, thank God for all this new-found joy! My 
love is amply returned. ” 

“ Hah!” he ejaculated, after a time, as he drew 

307 


3o8 


A SECRET QUEST. 


a long breath and began to ascend the other side 
of the deep gorge, “ this is the sort of thing to do 
one good. It will make me more sensible, in- 
stead of being drunk with delight, and ready to 
shout and sing like a child over a holiday. If I 
did not come out like this sometimes I should be 
babbling to everybody I met about how happy I 
have grown, 

“Steep bit this,” he panted. “So much the 
better. Done me good to have gone up Piz Luce 
with Aleck and Valter; but I couldn’t stand them 
now. I should be saying or doing something 
weak, and Aleck would laugh at me. Poor old 
chap ! Too bad to pitch him over as I have ; but 
wait a bit, his time will come, if it has not 
already. Hang me if I don’t believe it’s getting 
serious with Mrs. Lindley. Well, why shouldn’t 
it? She’s a very sweet little woman, whom any 
man might love. I love her for my darling’s 
sake. I wish them joy. 

“There,” he cried, as he reached the top, pant- 
ing and hot. “Yes, I wish them joy. Now, let’s 
see, which way shall I go to-day? I must not go 
too far, because of being back to dinner. Won- 
der whether I shall sit by my darling’s side. 
Can’t be very far off. I am not far off, for I feel 
as if she is with me now — a part of my very 
being. 

“Ha, ha!” he cried, with his face flushed with 
exercise, and his joyous sensations in the fine 
crisp air where he stood. “ How solitary ! Not a 
soul — not a sound — not so much as a goat-bell. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


309 


Alone, alone, alone, where one can cry aloud and* 
shout for joy. 

“ Wonder how old Aleck is getting on. I ought 
to see him from somewhere up here,” and he 
shaded his eyes from the sunshine and gazed long 
at the conical mountain away south, with its peak 
completely clothed in dazzling white snow. “ No, 
not a sign of him, nor Valter neither. What a 
muff they are beginning to think me. Now, then, 
which way shall I go? Odd if I should really find 
a trace of the old mines to-day, and be able to 
take back a specimen or two of gold. Make the 
Colonel stare, for he looks upon me as a madman 
over that craze. Which valley shall I explore?” 

He climbed upon a mass of stone and looked 
along the different valleys and depressions which 
opened out before him, seeming to be like so 
many gigantic watercourses running up toward 
the different peaks. 

“Bah!” he cried. “What nonsense! Why 
hunt any more? I came out here to seek for the 
old gold mine, and I have found it — the oldest, 
truest, purest source of golden happiness to man. 
Love — her love. As for the metal, pah! the 
thought is degrading. I want no myth when I 
have found the reality, that I shall clasp once 
more in my arms to-night.” 

He began to descend into the next depression 
of the pathless waste, thinking, thinking always. 

“What could she see in me?” he said, gently. 
“ I’m not good enough for her. What could she 
see in me?” 


310 


A SECRET QUEST. 


He stopped musing and took out his pipe, but 
thrust it back. 

“ No; let’s have one of the old man’s cigars. 

“He’s taking to me,’’ he continued, as he drew 
out the handsome Russia case with its engraved 
crest on the side. “Yes, he’s taking to me. 
Eccentric, but a thorough gentleman; and he 
feels that I love her whom he loves most on earth. 
Good cigars, too,” he said, opening the case and 
selecting one. “ Pretty thick this. So much the 
better. Keep the weeds from getting bruised.” 

He replaced the case in his breast, bit off the 
end of his cigar, lit up in the shelter of a rock, 
and went on, smoking. 

“By George,” he cried, “what a cigar. De- 
licious!” 

He wandered, now slowly, now bounding down 
some smooth slope in the exuberance of his joy. 
Then came a climb, and a rest on some block of 
stone, or a pause, during which he threw himself 
down in the bright sunshine upon some bed of 
Sedums, where quite a couch was formed of the 
tiny rosettes. All around was still, and not even 
a bird was visible but once, when a lammergeyer, 
with wide-spread wings, floated near, looking at 
him curiously, and then circling round as if watch- 
ing him. 

“Not dead yet, old fellow,” shouted Deane. 
“Eh, don’t understand English? What is it, 
then? Nichttodt. Still puzzled? Pas encore mart. 
Oh, I see; you’ve come over the mountains from 
the sunny side. Non morto. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


3II 

“What a fine fellow, and what eyes! Wonder 
whether he would have a pick at a body if one 
was lying here dead — fallen, say, during some 
climb. 

“ Ugh ! What have I to do with such horrible 
thoughts? I want to live on and on for my dar- 
ling’s sake. What’s o’clock?” 

He looked at his watch, and came to the con- 
clusion that he had ample time to cross a ridge 
before him, make his way down into a chasm 
which he had taken to be one of the spots worked 
by the old Romans, and climb from there on to 
the side of the mountain and over the other ridge 
which cut him off from the glacier. Down this 
he made up his mind to journey by the far side, 
then cross and descend to the ice cave, and follow 
the stream to where it joined the river in the 
Schnee-thal, and so descend back to the hotel. 

“ Plenty of time, ” he said, “ and a really good 
honest tramp will do me good. I’ve been fooling 
so far, and dreaming like a sickly sentimental 
love-lorn boy. Hurrah, I’m glad of it; for if ever 
man was in honest manly love that fellow is Adam 
Deane.” 

He started off now at a good swinging pace. 
There was no track of any description, and the 
place was well littered with fallen rocks ; but he 
leaped and dropped and crept between, and went 
up and down in full enjoyment of the difficulties 
he encountered. Twice over he recalled Frant 
and his climb, and stopped at good points of 
vantage to examine the snowy peak; but there 


312 


A SECRET QUEST. 


was still no trace of any one mounting, and com- 
ing to the conclusion that Frant had attacked the 
mountain from the other side, he went on. At 
last he stood high up among the shattered rocks, 
gazing down into the great gorge which formed 
the bed of the glacier, quite four miles above the 
spot where the stream poured into the crevasse. 

Here for a time he became so interested in the 
scene of wild grandeur below him, with its ter- 
races and descents of ice looking like some tre- 
mendous cataract suddenly congealed, that the 
memory of Hester faded from his mind. He was 
high enough up now for the snow to be lying all 
around like sheets of hail stones. 

He had never been so high up the glacier be- 
fore. He was now near where it mingled with 
past winters’ snows, which curved up in white and 
gold to the summits high on his right. So grand 
was the dazzling spectacle in its purity, hardly 
showing traces of stony moraine, that he stopped 
for long shading his eyes from the glare, and 
watching the strange jagged shapes of the broken 
ice. 

At last, silent and wondering at Nature’s 
majesty here in these icy solitudes, he walked 
along the stony slope of the gorge till he came 
upon a narrow rift filled with snow and running 
down to the glacier. Taking his place on this, and 
supported by his ice axe held behind him, he bent 
his figure back and gave himself up to the pleas- 
ure of the rapid motion of a glissade, and, with 
the hard snow hissing and rushing down with 


A SECRET QUEST. 313 

him, he descended swiftly, to stop at length in a 
bed of dazzling snow on the surface of the glacier. 

The difficulties of his task now began, for the 
surface of the frozen river was only to be passed 
by careful management. But Deane’s was the 
training of years, and he began to slowly descend, 
picking his way carefully. For he was alone. 

“I must bring her up here,” he said, as he 
stopped in one of the wildest and grandest spots 
along the snowy fall. “ Such scenes as these only 
come to the lot of those who climb. If we came 
from below, started early, and took plenty of 
time, it would not be too laboripus, and I could 
help her.” 

He went on downward, his eyes wandering con- 
stantly over the icy chaos, and as he descended 
every beautiful pinnacle and turret was associated 
in his mind with Hester, and he fancied he heard 
her ecstatic praise of the glorious scene. 

“Poor Aleck!” he said, as he came to a more 
open spot, where the ice formed a fairly level 
slope, across which zig-zagged a great crevasse. 
“ Poor Aleck ! I hope matters will go .smoothly 
and well for him.” 

He stopped, gazing to right and left. The crev- 
ice extended right across the glacier, and to get 
round meant a walk of quite a quarter of a mile. 

“Not too wide to jump,” he said, for the gap 
was only about five feet across. Drawing himself 
up, he made a spring forward, cleared the rift, 
and came down lightly on the ice on the other side, 
where he slipped for some distance, and it was 


3^4 


A SECRET QUEST. 


only by the exercise of the greatest dexterity that 
he saved himself from a nasty fall, 

“This will not do,” he said laughingly, as he 
stuck the spike at the end of his ice axe into the 
mass beneath his feet, and began to wipe his 
heated brow. “Not my own property now; sol 
must take care. ” Then resuming the steep des- 
cent, he kept on winding in and out among the 
many obstacles till at the end of a couple of hours 
the deep humming roar of the fall told him of his 
nearness to the great crevasse, which he reached 
at last, heated and weary, by the slope farthest 
from the hotel. Here he sat down to rest and 
watch the falling water as it came down the side, 
wearing the ice away, and widening the gap day 
by day. 

Consulting his watch, Deane found he had plenty 
of time to spare, so took out his pipe and lay back 
to gaze at the beautiful scene through the soft 
mist which rose from the burning tobacco. 


CHAPTER XXXVII. 


There was ice below and before him, ice in 
huge masses to right and left, while high up peak 
after peak displayed its fields. But where he lay, 
bathed in sunshine, there was a warm glow ; and 
as he basked there, dreamily seeing Hester, and 
pondering on all that had passed, the beautiful 
vision of dazzling white, veined with softened 
blue, died away — and the next moment as it 
seemed to him he was battling with some terri- 
ble indescribable peril — some danger which had 
grasped him by the throat and forced him back ! 
For an indefinite time he seemed to be struggling 
against this force, but vainly; for he was mas- 
tered, and he was growing weaker and weaker, 
with an agony of despair ever increasing, till with 
one tremendous effort he forced it back, opened 
his eyes — to see Anderson not a yard away, gaz- 
ing down at him mockingly, with hands resting 
upon an alpenstock. 

“ Do you always sleep as uneasily as that, friend 
Deane?” he said with a laugh. 

“Sleep! Was I asleep?” stammered the young 
man. 

“Evidently, and gasping and sighing as if 
you were suffering from a maddening attack of 
indigestion. ” 


315 


3i6 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“Couldn't be that,” said Deane, smiling, “for I 
have not touched my sandwiches.” 

“ Going to sleep with a pipe in your mouth, per- 
haps. Bad tobacco.” 

“ Perhaps so. But how came you here?” 

“I? Oh, I have been strolling about with the 
Colonel till he went in to have his nap. Having 
nothing else to do, I came to see if I could run 
against you or Mr. Frant. That led me down and 
up till I reached the glacier on the other side. I 
had just seated myself, thinking what a lovely, 
wild, solitary place it was, when I caught sight 
of what seemed to be a dead goat lying on the 
rocks on the other side, which dead goat resolved 
itself through my glass into a human being with 
English legs. ‘Frant or Deane,’ I said, and I 
came across the ice and found Deane. Ready to 
go back?” 

“Yes,” said Deane, who could not shake off the 
unpleasant sensation left by his dream. “Pm 
ready; have a cigar?” 

“Thanks, yes.” 

“Wish he had said no,” thought Deane, and 
brought out his present. 

“Hullo!” said Anderson, banteringly; “suc- 
ceeded to the Colonel’s property already?” 

“Nonsense, man; a little gift.” 

“ Ah !” said Anderson, with a sigh, as he gave 
Deane a sinister look, wondering the while how 
much Hester had said to him. “Lucky youth! 
What a time of sunshine you have before you. ” 

“ Let’s use the sunshine, then, to get back,” said 


A SECRET QUEST. 


317 


Deane, handing a light, and then applying it to 
his half-empty pipe. “It will be precious cold 
here before long, and it’s a good way to the hotel. ” 

“ Bless me, then, for coming all this way and 
waking you,” said Anderson, puffing away at his 
cigar and sweeping the slopes of the mountains 
with his eyes. “ Why, if I had not arrived so op- 
portunely you would not have been at the chalet to 
dinner, and in the morning you would have been 
found frozen stiff.” 

“Not I,” said Deane, picking up his ice-axe. 
“ Ready?” 

“Yes, quite,” said Anderson, whose eyes were 
still wandering. Seeing that his companion noted 
his abstraction, he continued: “Wonderful, won- 
derful! Here, in this hot country, and an hour 
or two’s climb takes us into what must be exactly 
like the Arctic region.” 

“Yes,” said Deane, quietly; “but one gets so 
accustomed to it that one hardly notices the snow 
line. Shall I lead? I know the cuts better.” 

“ By all means, please. One might easily go 
astray on this great river of ice. ” 

“Yes,” said Deane, and he strode on in front 
with his ice-axe over his shoulder, while Ander- 
son followed, striking the iron point into the ice 
at every other step to steady himself. 

They were about two-thirds of the way across, 
with the great crevasse on their right, and the 
scrappy conversation that had been carried on 
ceased, consequent upon the low thunderous roar 
which came up from the hideous chasm. 


3i8 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“I — I would not go too near,” said Anderson, 
huskily. 

“ Oh, I’m all right,” replied Deane. “ My head 
will stand anything now. Like to have a look 
down? I’ll hold your hand.” 

“Thanks — no,” said Anderson, and he followed 
Deane closely as the latter walked along within a 
few feet of the edge. 

The fall was still about fifty feet away, when 
suddenly there was a grating sound ; Deane felt 
Anderson’s alpenstock pass beween his ankles and 
wrench them, so that he was tripped up and thrown 
heavily on the ice, while instantly Anderson ex- 
claimed, “ I beg your pardon, ” and he felt a violent 
thrust. 

It was almost instantaneous. The thrust sent 
Deane over the edge, the ice offering no stay ; but 
with the instinct of a mountaineer, and in desper- 
ate effort to save himself, he made a blow with his 
ice-axe as he glided over toward the gulf. The 
stroke was not enough to stop him. The sharp 
point only scraped over the ice, failing to take 
hold ; but it checked his progress like a drag, and 
anchored him by holding on at the extreme edge, 
Deane clinging desperately to the handle as he 
swung to and fro. 

It had not occurred to him that this was other 
than a terrible accident, and as he looked up and 
saw Anderson’s face white as ashes, his alpenstock 
planted at the edge, gazing down at him, he said 
hoarsely: 

“For God’s sake, man, keep your nerve, or I’m 


A SECRET QUEST. 


319 


gone. Back. Lie down on your face as far as 
you can from here, stretch out your hands, and 
hold the axe head tightly down while I try and 
climb up. ” 

Anderson did not move, but stood as if frozen, 
his eyelids wide, so that rings of white showed 
round the pupils of his eyes. 

“Don’t — don’t be a coward!’’ cried Deane, 
hastily. “ Lie down, I tell you, and hold the axe 
head. I can hang some time, but the ice may 
give way. Do you hear me? Anderson! For — ^ — ’’ 

He ceased his appeal, for now he read the truth 
in the devilish face, fixed, cruel and triumphant. 
He knew now that it was no accident, but the de- 
termined act of one who sought to remove him 
from his path. And they were alone there — ab- 
solutely alone. 

A cry for help was, he knew, vain ; and after 
seeking for a few moments to find a foothold, he 
tried, as a man does who is accustomed to perilous 
adventures among the mountain peaks, to be calm. 
He knew that he could hang like that for some 
minutes, his muscles being like iron ; and he said, 
as he gazed fixedly in the other’s face: 

“Mr. Anderson — help me.’’ 

There was not the slightest change in the face 
above him, and now he spoke in an appealing 
tone. 

“ Mr. Anderson, for God’s sake, save me! It is 
murder to let me go.’’ 

Still no reply; nothing but that devilish face 
glaring down at him, the alpenstock clutched 


320 


A SECRET QUEST. 


tightly against his cheek as he slowly took a little 
ivory-handled revolver from his breast. 

Deane’s lips parted. His nerve was going, and 
the horror of such a death just then half maddened 
him. His agony was about to find vent in a wild 
cry ; but once more he mastered himself. He knew 
his peril, but he had been in peril before, when 
calm matter-of-fact coolness had saved his life, as 
it should save it here. 

“He cannot mean it,” he thought. “The man 
is paralyzed with horror. Hold fast, good axe,” 
he muttered; and, throwing all his manhood’s 
strength into the muscles of his arms, he began 
slowly and steadily to pass one hand above the 
other. 

Twice, and then he ceased, for he swung about 
frightfully, and his wildly-staring eyes could see 
that the axe-head had worked so much nearer the 
edge that he dared try no more. 

“Anderson!” he gasped, in a low, husky voice, 
“for pity’s sake — as you hope for mercy — help!” 

There was a loud, hoarse sound like a deep 
sigh, and hope sprang up in Deane’s breast as he 
saw Anderson slowly return the pistol to his breast, 
grasp the alpenstock again, and gaze down in his 
face. The man would save him ; and Hester — he 
should live to see her again. 

“Ah!” 

The first wild cry of fear and horror that had 
escaped him, as he saw Anderson move slightly. 
There was a jarring sensation down his wrists and 
away to his breast. 


A SECRET QUEST. 


321 


He was paralyzed now, and the horrible roar of 
the reverberating torrent below for the first time 
struck upon his ears like the cry of some monster 
eager for its prey. 

Again that strange jar, which flew through 
every nerve, following a slight motion of the 
devilish face, which stared triumphantly down. 

He would have uttered another appeal for mercy, 
but the words would not come now ; and he waited 
with his eyes growing filmy, through what felt 
like an age of torture, for the next jarring sensation. 

“God help her! Hester — my own!” he sighed, 
as the last crumbling thrill came. The glistening 
steel axe-head trembled for a moment on the edge, 
the ice splintered away, and Adam Deane plunged 
down into the horrible void! 

Anderson had deliberately kicked the axe from 
its frail anchorage, and now rose erect, and once 
more bent over to listen to the dull, heavy rever- 
berating roar. 

“Gone!” he said, softly; and turning away he 
walked across the ice, looking searchingly to right 
and left, in dread of some hidden witness. He 
saw none, and in due time came upon Frant, about 
a mile below, just where the glacier ended. 

21 


CHAPTER XXXVIII. 


Bribery and corruption had been at work ; but, 
to the credit of the guard be it said, they would 
not have been sufficient. He felt sympathy for 
the two weeping women who came imploringly for 
an interview, and as soon as he had exacted from 
them their word of honor that they would not aid 
the prisoner to escape, they were ushered into the 
room where Aleck Frant was walking up and down 
like a caged lion. 

“Miss Denton! Mrs. Lindley!” he exclaimed, 
as Hester threw up her veil and came forward, 
while Aunt Ecclesia caught at the back of a chair 
and stood supporting herself by it, sobbing almost 
hysterically, “ How good of you— I did not expect 
this.” 

Hester laid her hands in his, the tears stream- 
ing down her pale cheek as she fixed her eyes upon 
him, while a flush of joyous excitement and hope 
lit up the young man’s face. 

“Knowing what I do,” she faltered, “I could 
not stay away.” Then, with fier voice growing 
firmer, “ He was my dear husband — the husband 
he will ever be in my heart — and I could not let 
the man he trusted — the companion I know he 
looked upon as a brother— rest longer without 
322 


A SECRET QUEST. 


323 


knowing that I do not believe this cruel charge. 
Aleck Frant, you could not have done this.” 

The light died out of Frant’s eyes, and with it 
the wild hope for the future, as he raised Hester’s 
hands softly and reverently to his lips. 

“ God bless you for this, Hester, ” he said huskily, 
and in a voice hardly above a whisper, “ He knows 
I am innocent.” Then, after a pause, as they stood 
together in the middle of the room, “ It was like 
you to come. ” 

A piteous sob broke upon the stillness then, and 
a smile full of sadness came upon Frant’s face, as 
he looked once more into Hester’s eyes. 

“Yes,” he said with a sigh; “I am innocent 
enough, as they will find some day. ” Letting Hes- 
ter’s hands drop slowly, one by one, he turned to 
where Aunt Ecclesia stood, with her head bent 
down, blinded by her tears, and struggling with 
the deep emotion that half suffocated her. 

As Frant turned to her, something seemed to 
whisper to him the words : “ Take the good the 
gods provide you. ” 

Aunt Ecclesia’s sobs came softly, and he could 
see that her face was working behind her veil. 

“Mrs. Lindley — Ecclesia,” he said softly, as he 
held out his hands. 

“Aleck!” she cried wildly. The next moment 
her arms were about his neck, and she was sobbing 
hysterically as she hid her face in his breast. 

“ It is not true,” she said, as she nestled closer 
to him. “You couldn’t — you are too true and 
poble, and good. I can’t help it — I am only a 


324 


A SECRET QUEST. 


weak foolish woman. Let the world think what 
it likes. I do love you, Aleck, and if they kill 
you they shall kill me too.” 

“No, no, no,” he said, as he held her throbbing 
and trembling closer and closer to him. “ They 
shan’t kill you, my brave, true, little woman; nor 
they shan’t kill me. We’ll have the truth out 
somehow. You’ve given me the spirit to work, as 
well as taught me that I have something to live 
for. Come, come, come, no more crying, dear.” 

She looked up at him with her eyes flashing with 
delight, and kissed him softly on the cheek. 

“ No,” she said, extricating herself from his em- 
brace, and taking his arm with both her hands 
clasped about it. “I’ll be very firm now; but you 
will not think me shameless and strange?” 

“I?” he said tenderly, and then with a pitying 
look he held out his hand to Hester, who took it, 
and then kissed both in turn with a very loving 
and sisterly kiss. 

“Now,” she said, quietly, as she drew a long 
catching breath, “ tell me what ought to be done, 
Mr. Frant, to set you free.” 

“Nothing at present,” he said. “I suppose I 
shall very soon be taken away from here.” 

“To prison?” cried Aunt Ecclesia, wildly. 

“ Well ; what of that? Come, be brave. It will 
only be the first step toward my freedom. There 
must be an examination, and we shall see how 
they frame the charge. With the consul’s help, I 
shall get a proper advocate, and I have no doubts 
about the future. We do not know that Adam 


A SECRET QUEST. 


325 


Deane is dead. It looks bad, I know. So it does 
about me, when even poor old Valter suspects me, 
and, in his great liking for Adam, turned upon 
me as he did.” 

“And I hate him for it!” cried Aunt Ecclesia. 
“No, no, little woman,” said Frant, gently. 
“ He is a good fellow, and he did not turn upon 
me till things looked black. ” 

“They did not — they never looked black.” 
“Yes,” said Frant, smiling at her, “they did. 
It was so contrary to my custom to put the guide 
off with an excuse, and send him alone to make 
that ascent, that when he came back to find me 

scratched and bleeding from a fall ” 

“ But you did fall?” 

“Fall? I believe I did. I was blundering 
along, thinking; and though it was quite low 
down, where a school-girl might go in safety, I 
never had a narrower escape in my life. ” 

“Oh!” ejaculated Aunt Ecclesia. 

“ But I got off with a few cuts, and of course I 
bled a little. . My appearance, and poor Deane’s 
absence, did look suspicious. But there. Cheer 
up both of you ; I tell you Adam is not dead. ” 
Hester turned to him wildly, and in spite of 
what had passed a pang shot through him as he 
realized the intensity of her love for his friend. 
“ Don’t raise false hopes,” she faltered. 

“They are not false hopes,” he said, firmly. 
“ I cannot — I will not believe poor old Adam is 
dead. It sounds mad,” he continued; “but we 
have been so much together, such brothers for 


A SECRET QUEST. 


326 

years, that if he had passed away I feel as if 1 
should have had some sign— that I should have 
felt that he was dead. No, I will not believe it 
till I see him lying dead before me.” 

At that moment the fastening of the door rattled, 
was shaken again, there was a loud cough, and 
the key was slowly turned. Then the door seemed 
to stick, and at 'last was slowly pressed open. 

“Yes,” cried Frant, “what is it?” 

The official entered quite apologetically to an- 
nounce that the interview must end. 

“No, not yet — another half-hour,” cried Frant, 
taking a napoleon from his pocket. 

But the man shook his head and refused the gift. 

“ The ladies must now go,” he said ; then turned 
his back upon them and stood close up to the door, 
with gentlemanly consideration for the painful 
parting that he knew was at hand. 

“There,” said Frant, cheerily; “time’s up, 
ladies. Let’s keep a bold face on the trouble. 
Good-by, dear sister. You have done more than 
you can imagine by coming here. Good-by, Ec- 
clesia, dearest,” he said, cheerfully, as he took 
her in his arms. “ Be my firm, brave, little wife; 
and if I send for you because I want your help, 
you will come?” 

“To the world’s end, Aleck,” she said, looking 
proudly into his eyes and offering her lips as he 
bent toward her. 

The next moment the ladies were descending 
the hotel stairs, and walked hastily with their 
veils drawn toward the chalet. 


CHAPTER XXXIX. 


A SENSATION of falling through space; a sudden 
plunge into water which thundered in his ears; 
blows, the feeling of being beaten and ground 
against stones; a horrible sense of ‘suffocation ; a 
sudden check which half stunned him. Then, as 
his senses returned, Deane found himself suffering 
agonies, in intense darkness, clinging to a mass of 
stone, while some terrible creature which kept up 
an incessant roar appeared to be tearing and drag- 
ging at him to pull him down from where he 
clung. 

How long this lasted he did not know. It 
might have been hours, it might have been min- 
utes. But presently he sufficiently recovered from 
the terrible shock to realize that he was clinging 
to a mass of stone, with a rushing stream of water 
up to his waist exercising a constant drag upon 
him, and ready at any moment to sweep him 
under. 

He was too much stunned and confused at the 
moment to comprehend more, and it was instinct- 
ively that he clung tightly with one hand while 
feeling about in the darkness with the other till 
he could get a fresh hold. Then he brought his 
feet into play on the smoothly worn rock beneath 

327 


328 


A SECRET QUEST. 


the water, tried to draw himself higher, slipped, 
and was nearly borne away. 

Another effort, after he had rested, panting and 
frozen with horror for some time; and another, 
and another; all of which exhausted him so that 
he was ready to let go. But a last effort, the most 
feeble of all, was happily so successful that only 
the lower part of his legs were exposed to the 
rush of the water. After a rest, he contrived to 
get himself clear, half sitting, half lying on the 
smooth rocks. 

This was followed by a dull confused period, 
during which everything passed away and he knew 
nothing. Regaining his senses, the horror of his 
position nearly drove them back, and it was only 
by a tremendous effort that he was able to try and 
make out what it all meant. 

There was the hollow booming roar, the rush 
of a torrent, a feeling of intense cold, and a dark- 
ness that seemed as if it touched him, pressing so' 
heavily on his brain that he could not think. 

Again his senses left him, and once more, after 
an interval that might have been minutes or hour, 
he struggled back into consciousness, but still 
from that darkness there would come no answer 
to the simple question. Why? 

He was cold, and his clothes were drenched; 
but he had not the energy to try and wring out 
any of the water. He could only lie on those 
smooth wet stones, and drowsily try to think, till 
the effort grew so wearisome that his head sank 
heavily down upon his left arm, his brow touching 


A SECRET QUEST. 


329 


the rock about which that arm was bent; and this 
time he dropped into a state of unconsciousness 
that gradually became sleep. 

When he awoke the power of thought had re- 
turned, and he lay wondering for a few moments 
what that deafening, reverberating thunder could 
be — why he was nearly paralyzed, and so stiff and 
cold that he could not stir. He could not feel 
that he possessed arm or leg, they were so utterly 
benumbed. And always that terrific roar, and 
the darkness so intense that for the moment he 
felt that his eyes must be closed. He opened 
them — closed them again, opened them once more, 
and it was always so black that he uttered a wild 
cry, which sounded muffled and strange, and 
seemed to be swept away. Could he be blind? 

That terrible thought acted as a spur to his 
brain. Like a flash it all came back, and he saw 
himself clinging to his ice-axe, with the head just 
anchored on the edge of the crevasse, gazing up 
wildly into the devilish face of Anderson as the 
head of the ice-axe was deliberately kicked away. 

So agonizing was the reality that for the mo- 
ment he found himself praying for insensibilit)^ 
But the power to think coherently came instead ; 
the horror grew more dull, and, like a man inured 
to peril and accustomed to find himself in situ- 
ations which called for all his energy, he began 
to calculate his chances of escape. 

It was all plain enough now. He had been 
plunged into the depths of the awful crevasse, and 
was lying there with his limbs broken, for still he 


330 


A SECRET QUEST. 


could feel no sensation in hand or foot. But by 
degrees there was suggestion of returning anima- 
tion as he moved a little, and for the first time 
something like hope began to dawn upon him. 
He not only found that he could move one arm, 
but that he could keep his position without slip- 
ping into the rushing water which thundered just 
below. 

Arrived at this point, it was only a matter of 
time before he realized that, though stiff with 
bruises, there were no bones broken, and that he 
must have been plunged into the water, which 
had thrown him against the stone to which he had 
instinctively clung. 

He had drawn himself up now, stiff and suffer- 
ing with the cold, to sit with his chin resting upon 
his knees, which he clasped with his stiffened 
arms, carried away once more by the agony of his 
thoughts. Hester — she would think him dead. 
That man had tried to murder him, and it was for 
her sake — to clear a rival from his path. 

For a time these thoughts were utterly pros- 
trating. Then they seemed to send an electric 
glow of rage through him. His blood coursed 
wildly through his veins, his brain grew more 
active, and again he began to think of the possi- 
bility of escape. 

“ When was it that all this happened?” he asked 
himself, as he passed his hand over his garments. 

The answer came to his touch. It must have 
been many hours before, since he had some faint 
memory of the water dripping from him, and now 


A SECRET QUEST. 


331 

the natural heat of his body had made everything- 
partly dry. 

“Preserved so far,” he cried at length, fran- 
tically. “ God give me my reason, and I will face 
him yet.” 

And now he set himself resolutely to work to 
understand his position. He felt about him, and 
there was the slippery, well-ground stone on either 
side and a few feet above him. The rocks sloped 
so that in his movements he was extended face 
downward, and suddenly it occurred to him that a 
projection was pressing awkwardly into his chest. 

The next moment he uttered a cry of joy, and 
thrust his hand into the breast of his Norfolk 
jacket — to drag out his flask, which proved to be 
three-parts full. A draught of the French brandy 
it contained sent a thrill of energy through his 
veins. His hands busied themselves about the 
other pockets. In his right breast was the Colo- 
nel’s cigar-case, three-parts full; in other pockets 
were his tobacco-pouch and pipe, a little case of 
sandwiches; and at his waist was something he 
dared not for the moment take from its tiny 
pocket. It seemed too much to hope that this last 
adjunct to a mountaineer’s equipment should be 
intact. 

He sat for a few moments now as he turned 
himself, and the sturdy Englishman came out. 
Taking pipe and pouch from his pocket, he delib- 
erately filled the former, replaced the india-rubber 
pouch, and then, in spite of himself, his cold hand 
trembled as he thrust his fingers into the tiny 


332 


A SECRET QUEST. 


waist pocket and drew out a little silver box, 
opened it, shook out a wax match into his hand, 
and wondered. 

The box was warm — would the matches be dry? 
If dry — would they have been spoiled by the wet? 
It was some minutes before, after closing the box, 
he dared strike the match on the roughened sur- 
face he had touched with one finger to make out 
its exact whereabouts. Then, with his teeth set 
so hard that they threatened to cut through the 
bone mouthpiece of his pipe, he struck the match 
and there was a faint line of light. 

Another sharp scratch and his heart sank — the 
water must have got to them. 

Once more a quick drawing of the little rounded 
end over the file-like part of the box, and there 
was a burst of light! The tiny taper he held on 
high was burning with a clear flame, long enough 
for him to see what he had already mentally 
grasped — that he was seated on a tiny island of 
rock in the middle of a rushing stream, facing a 
black tunnel which arched over the waters before 
him. He was on an island only a few feet across, 
with the water on either side rushing furiously, 
while the arch above him was of ice. 

He sat there thinking, with his elbows on his 
knees, and the warm glow of the tobacco lighting 
up his hands at every draw as he held them round 
the bowl. Thinking, thinking, and seeing clearly 
now that he was below the glacier, seated on the 
bed rock in the tunnel, safe for the moment, until 
the glacier stream should increase and bear him 


A SECRET QUEST. 


333 


away. A prisoner without a prospect of escape, 
unless he could force his way back into the crevice 
and cling there until help came. Unless, on the 
other hand, he could wade or swim down to the 
grotto at the glacier foot — perhaps miles below. 
Taking his pipe from his lips, Deane uttered the 
word “Impossible!” and told himself that there 
was only one way of escape open to him to life ; 
and that was through the gates of death to life 
eternal, where there would be no more mental 
agony and pain. 


CHAPTER XL. 


There was quite a little crowd outside the hotel 
door. Every dweller in the Schnee-thal had been 
attracted there — to see, perhaps for the last time, 
the familiar face of the sturdy young Englishman 
who was to be taken away under police escort to 
the great prison, there to be examined, and then 
await his trial for the murder of his companion, 
the stranger who had such mad ideas about the 
existence of an old gold mine. 

They were both well known, for there was 
hardly a peasant at whose door they had not 
stopped for a draught of water, a bowl of milk, or 
some bread and cheese, when out with Valter, the 
guide — who was now standing with a group of 
men who followed his avocation. 

There were quite a dozen guides present from 
the neighboring valleys, each with a tuft of flow- 
ers in his felt hat ; for in its way the day was a 
kind of holiday. The women were attired in their 
best, with flat straw hats and flowers, black velvet 
bodices, and snowy- white linen, decked with silver 
chains. 

There was a buzz of excitement as a gentleman 
on horseback was seen coming up the mule path, 
a guide leading the steed, which was stopped at 
334 


A SECRET QUESt. 335 

the hotel door. A whisper ran round that it was 
the English consul from Berne. 

Shortly after he had entered, Anderson came 
out. There was a dead silence as he passed 
through the little crowd and made his way to the 
chalet^ pausing for a moment to gaze down the path 
which led to the bridge over the falls. 

Half-way there, to his surprise he met the Colo- 
nel, with Hester and Aunt Ecclesia, both closely 
veiled. A change came over him as he caught 
sight of Hester, and he drew in his breath with a 
strange sound; but recovering himself, he went 
on. 

“Going for a walk?” he said, quietly. 

“ Walk, sir? — no,” cried the Colonel, with asper- 
ity. “They would come, both of them.” 

“Would come?” 

“Yes, sir. That young man is to be taken 
^way this morning.” 

“Is this wise. Miss Denton?” said Anderson, 
gravely. 

Hester’s eyes flashed through her veil, but she 
did not speak; for her aunt was clinging to her 
arm and whispered to her to go on. 

“Wise?” cried the Colonel; “whoever said it 
was?” 

Anderson shrugged his shoulders. 

“And for goodness sake, sir, ’’cried the Colonel, 
who was thoroughly on edge with mental pain, 
“ don’t act like a confounded Frenchman. If ever 
there was a time when we ought to be truly Eng- 
lish, for tlie sake of our countryman, it is now.’’ 


336 A SECRET QUEST. 

“ Indeed, Colonel Denton, it is my wish.” 

“Then, why in the devil’s name, sir, do you 
sneak off from the hotel and leave that poor fel- 
low in the lurch? There, girls — come along, or 
I shall be saying something rude.” 

Anderson darted a look at Hester, but she 
turned away her head. He drew back for them 
to pass, and turned and followed them. Gretchen 
also, in her best, and looking flushed and excited, 
came hastily out of the chalet to go to the hotel. 

As soon as the little party was seen approach- 
ing, there was a murmur of expectancy, the peo- 
ple drawing back, and their attention being 
diverted from the horses which were led out from 
the side of the building. As the ladies drew near, 
two of the brightest looking of the maidens pressed 
forward and offered them bunches of freshly- 
gathered Alpine flowers, which were accepted. 
Amidst murmurs of sympathy, they were going 
forward when the men all took off their hats and 
saluted the stern-looking Colonel, whose lips 
quivered a little as he acknowledged the salute. 

The next little incident was caused by Valter’s 
approach. He shrank back as the Colonel waved 
him away, and stood gazing after the party as 
they went up to the hotel till Gretchen went up to 
him and took his arm. 

Then a burst of conversation rose on the soft 
morning air, and the place looked as if all were 
gathered for some merry-making. Never had the 
valley looked more beautiful, with its bright 
brown chalets — the patches of meadow dotted with 


A SECRET QUEST. 


337 


flowers, the gray rocks and clumps of tall dark 
green firs, tasselled with young growth of a 
brighter green ; while high above all, far beyond 
the rocks where the goats climbed and sent down 
showers of sound from their bells, rose dazzling 
fields and points of purest ice and snow. 

The visitor’s guilt was discussed, and popular 
favor was so evidently on his side that when, a 
few minutes later, one of the police came to the 
door, held up his hand for silence, and ordered 
the man who had the horses to bring them for- 
ward, there was a low angry murmur. This was 
checked on the instant as the Colonel came out, 
supporting Aunt Ecclesia, and followed by Ander- 
son and Hester, who at every attention shrank 
from him with an instinctive feeling of horror. 

The murmur died away as the Colonel stood 
with the heart-broken women by the door. A 
policeman came out, directly followed by another 
walking beside Frant, to whom no other indignity 
was offered, and a couple more followed behind. 

The chief of police made a sign, the stirrup was 
held ready, and Frant mounted — prisoner enough, 
for one of the police now held the horse’s head. 
The others prepared to mount for the long ride 
down the mule-track to the town. 

But as Frant settled himself in the saddle and 
turned to hold out his hands to his friends, there 
was a tremendous shout raised, in which the wo- 
men joined, waving their handkerchiefs wildly. 

“Not guilty there. Colonel!” said Frant, with 
forced gayety. 

22 


338 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“No, no, my lad,” cried the old man, taking 
Frant’s hand ; “ and not guilty here !” 

“Good-by, Ecclesia!” continued Frant, in a 
low voice. “Come, for my sake be brave, or I 
shall break down too; and I want them to see that 
I am an Englishman.” 

She grasped his hand and tried to speak, but 
sank back in the Colonel’s arms, Hester turning 
to aid her. Valter came up on the other side, hat 
in hand, and sank upon one knee as he laid his 
hand upon Frant’s off stirrup. 

“ Say you forgive me, sir, ” he cried, piteously. 

Frant frowned as he looked in the guide’s frank, 
handsome face ; then his own cleared. 

“Yes,” he said, “I forgive you; for I believe 
you would have done as much for me.” 

“ I would, sir — God knows I would, for I loved 
you both.” 

“ Give me a little of the love still, my lad,” said 
Frant, softly ; “ for I never raised my hand against 
my friend.” 

He turned now to where Hester was, just leav- 
ing her aunt’s side, the police making way for her 
respectfully. Raising her veil, she came toward 
the horse, Anderson following her, as if to hear 
what she would say. 

“I will not say good-by,” she whispered, as 
she placed her hands in Frant’s, and looked up in 
his face. “ Aleck — brother — for Heaven knows — 
I believe you — in ” 

She had raised her eyes at the word “ Heaven,” 
and directly after her utterance was broken, and 


A SECRET QUEST. 


339 


she gave forth a wild shriek as she stood with her 
hands extended, gazing wildly toward the steep 
slope above the hotel. 

At that moment a shout was raised; and then 
there was a suppressed cry of horror, as a wild- 
looking, half -naked figure, whose remaining 
clothes clung to him in rags, came staggering 
down the mountain path. His face was bleeding, 
his hands and arms were torn, and there was a 
wild and ghastly look in his eyes — which were, 
like his cheeks, sunken as if he had passed through 
some terrible ordeal. 

“Ah!” shouted Frant, as he flung himself from 
the horse ; and he would have rushed to meet the 
figure but strong hands were immediately upon 
his wrists. 

But Valter was free, and with a shout of delight 
he rushed to meet — Deane! Another guide fol- 
lowed, and together they supported the much- 
sought man to the front. Hester had just fainted, 
when a wave of strength seemed to flow through 
Deane. 

“ Aleck !” he cried. “ Quick ! — arrest that man !” 

He pointed beyond the crowd to where a figure 
was seen hurrying down the path, rapidly disap- 
pearing amidst the pines. 

But almost as his words were uttered, Valter 
dashed in pursuit, and the crowd parted right and 
left as Deane, throbbing with fictitious strength, 
followed in pursuit of his enemy. 

For a few moments no one stirred. Then a 
thrill ran through the crowd, and the men rushed 


340 


A SECRET QUEST. 


down the road to find that pursuers and pursued 
had left the main track and had turned off to the 
right, where the narrow path led down a steep 
zig-zag to the bridge across the falls. 

“ He’s making for the mountains,” cried one of 
the guides. ‘‘Valter will soon have him there.” 

Suddenly came the sharp, clear crack of a re- 
volver, and those who followed saw Anderson 
standing in the middle of the bridge, with the 
smoke rising above his head. Valter, who had 
seized him, was staggering onward blindly, bent 
of head, with arms extended toward the other 
side, where he dropped upon his knees as Deane 
reached the bridge and rushed at the man in the 
centre. 

In another moment Deane would have had him 
by the throat ; but there was a flash and a puff 
of smoke, twice repeated, and the half-paralyzed 
descending group saw Deane fall heavily against 
the rail, while Anderson turned to make for the 
mountain path on the other side. 

But he had not reckoned upon the guide. Val- 
ter had risen from his knees on the farther rocks, 
and staggered back to the bridge, to try once 
more to seize his would-be murderer. 

It was almost momentary — that battle of a 
strong, wiry man with two whom he had disabled 
by shots. Those who were descending saw Deane 
rise again to make another attempt at capture, 
just as, drawing himself back to give impulse to 
the blow, Anderson struck out savagely at Valter, 
and they closed. There was a brief struggle, and 


A SECRET QUEST. 


341 


both went down — Valter to lie immovable, with 
his head over the upper side, Anderson to fall 
with a crash against the stout railings, one of 
which gave way. The next instant he was over 
the side, clinging to the edge, shrieking wildly for 
help, as he hung suspended over the horrible 
chasm. 

His cry was not in vain. 

Deane struggled forward, as he lay upon his 
breast, and caught Anderson’s wrists in a clasp of 
iron just as the cramped fingers were giving way. 

“Help! help!” cried Deane hoarsely. He was 
being slowly drawn from the plank bridge as he 
gazed wildly into the distorted face of the man 
he sought to save ! 

“Hold on a moment,” shouted the first guide 
who reached them; and he checked Deane’s on- 
ward progress to destruction by flinging himself 
across his body, and clasping the boards on either 
side. “Now,” he shouted, “one of you reach 
down and get hold of his wrists,” and as he 
shouted his order the man who followed tried to 
obey. He reached down to the full stretch of his 
arms, being fascinated the while by the terrible 
countenance below. 

“Now, quick! — can you reach? Got him?” 

“Ah!” 

That cry was uttered in despair, for Anderson’s 
wrists were just beyond the guide’s reach. He 
could not strain over to the extent that Deane was 
drawn, and the blood that trickled from a bullet- 
wound in the young man’s arm had made one 


342 


A SECRET QUEST. 


wrist slip from his fast-failing hold. Anderson 
swung round, hanging by one arm. He made a 
desperate clutch to reach the bridge. 

It was his last effort. Deane’s grasp was vain ; 
his enemy’s wrist was jerked from his failing fin- 
gers, and the two guides saw the unfortunate man 
disappear in the foam of the falling waters. He 
was gone ! 

“Back, and run down the valley!’’ cried the 
Colonel, who had now reached the scene. “You 
will find him as he is swept along.’’ 

“ The English Herr does not understand our 
falls,’’ said the first guide, rising and looking 
down, white-faced, and as if fascinated, into the 
terrible gulf. “No man who goes down there is 
ever found again. Now, lads, help these two to 
the hotel. Both shot. Will it kill them.^’’ he 
asked in a whisper of the Colonel, who was down 
upon his knees eagerly examining the wounds. 

“ No,’’ he said ; “ a man does not die of a bullet 
through the arm, nor yet from one which passes 
round outside the ribs.’’ 


CHAPTER XLI. 


The Colonel was right ; but matters were worse 
than he thought. He had Adam Deane carried 
up to the chalet^ instead of to the hotel. The 
effect of the bullet wound, supervening upon the 
shock and sufferings he had passed through, 
utterly prostrated the young man, and he lay for 
long hovering on the brink of death. 

But it is almost impossible for a young man to 
die when an angel is continually by his pillow 
bidding him stay — as Hester Denton did, making 
no scruple, now that he was weak and helpless, of 
telling him of her love and of how had he died 
she would have died too. 

Deane suffered severely, but he seemed in no 
hurry to get well. Valter had been for a long 
climb with Frant, only carrying his arm in a 
sling, weeks before Deane had grown strong 
enough to take what the Colonel called an honest 
walk. 

“I look upon you, Adam Deane,” he said one 
day, when he was smoking a cigar by the sick 
man’s bedside, “as one of the most contemptible 
humbugs under the sun. ” 

“You are hard upon me, sir.” 

“ Not half so hard as you deserve, sir. You be- 
gin by saving our lives; then you steal my child’s 
343 


344 


A SECRET QUEST. 


heart, like the miserable thief that you are; then 
you go and get yourself thrown down a crevasse, 
and have your best friend arrested for your mur- 
der ; and lastly, when you turn up alive, you try 
to get yourself killed ! And because, out of weak 
sympathy, I have you brought up here to be 
nursed, do you try to get well? Not a bit of it. 
You do all you can to get off into the other world. 

I don’t believe you want to get better.” 

“You are quite right, sir,” said Deane, frankly. 
“I do not.” 

“I knew it.” 

“ I have been too happy as I am. ” 

“God bless you, my boy!” cried the Colonel, 
warmly pressing his hand ; “ but you must get well. 

I suppose you’ll be wanting to get married one of 
these days. But you never told me about your 
adventures in that crevasse!” 

“ There is little to tell. I was carried by the 
torrent to a mass of rock in the great ice tunnel, 
to lie there for what seemed to be weeks. To get 
back against the stream was impossible; to go 
down with it was possible enough ; but for days I 
dared not attempt it. While a drop of brandy or 
the smallest scrap of tobacco or cigar remained, I 
could not stir! Think of what it meant: trying 
to move along in the black darkness, expecting 
each moment to be carried off one’s feet and 
whirled into some lower water-course where air 
would fail me, and where I might be wedged into 
some cleft and drowned. I dared not try. It 
would have been bad enough if I had been sure 


A SECRET QUEST. 


345 


that the tunnel extended straight to the ice grotto; 
but it was almost madness to hope that it would 
be direct. Even now I do not know what falls 
and cavities may have been in its course.” 

“ But you waded down it?” 

“ I waded a little way down in the black dark- 
ness, after I had grown so weak that I knew to stay 
was to die. Then I was swept from my feet by the 
terrible torrent; and the rest is like a dream. I 
found myself, cut, bruised and nearly suffocated, 
being swept along in the broad sunshine, to strug- 
gle down to you as you know.” 

“And have you told Hester all this?” 

“No; she has never pressed me to speak. I 
must tell her some day, though of course she 
knows nearly all.” 

“Yes. You talked enough in your delirium to 
give us a pretty good idea of how it all happened. 
Well, I’m glad the wretch did not live to be 
hanged. But there, let’s talk about something else. 
Humph! cigar’s out. I say, young man; I told 
you I should ask you for that cigar-case back. 
Give it to me and you shall have another.” 

Deane pointed out where Hester had placed the 
case. The Colonel took it, drew out a penknife, 
and slit the water-stained leather to draw out a 
couple of blurred letters. 

“ There,” he said, as Deane lay back wondering; 
“ those were Master Anderson’s aim as well as Hes- 
ter. He couldn’t have thought that, in pushing 
you down that crevasse, he was destroying letters 
for which he was to receive a thousand pounds. ” 


346 


A SECRET QUEST. 


“ But are you sure of all this?” said Deane, after 
the Colonel had made him acquainted with the 
facts of the case. 

“ Sure? Yes. There is no suspicion this time. 
The authorities requested me, as an Englishman 
who had known him, to take a list of Anderson’s 
possessions, to examine his papers, and to help 
them report to his friends. One letter was from 
Lord Desborough, telling him that if these letters 
were not obtained within a month he should draw 
back from his bargain and offer the reward to some 
one else. ” 

“ Then is it true?” 

“ Yes, as true as that I have communicated with 
his lordship, and told him how fate played into my 
hands — how I have read his letter and how his 
wretched tool behaved out here. In my last letter 
I called upon him to communicate with the sweet 
lady whose cause, for her father’s sake, I espoused. 
Yesterday I heard from her, asking for her letters 
back, and by the same post I received a newspaper 
containing a paragraph which announces the ap- 
proaching marriage between Lord Desborough and 
my Indian Princess. Ah, here’s my other princess. 
Well, Hetty, this fellow’s better.” 

“ Papa!” 

“Yes, my dear; it’s all sham now, and I’m 
going to turn him adrift.” 

“You’re not, dear,” cried Hester, flinging her 
arms about his neck. 

“ Ah, you’ll see. Hullo, who’s this?” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


347 


“Aunt, dear; she has been for a walk.” 

“With that mountain maniac, of course,” cried 
the Colonel, rising and going to the window, while 
Hester la.id her hand upon her invalid’s brow, to 
have it removed directly to his lips. 

“Hullo, murderer!” cried the Colonel. 

“ Morning, sir. Ready for a climb?” 

“No, I’m not. Here you, Ecclesia — you must 
go back to England. ” 

“John! How can you?” 

“Yes. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, going 
gadding about with that boy. You are old enough 
to know better. ” 

“Really, John, I — Come in, Mr. Frant, it is 
really dis ” 

They did not hear the rest, for Aunt Ecclsia 
hurried indoors, and the Colonel came away from 
the window chuckling. 

“ Poor Ecclesia ! How she does hate to be 
teased. ” 

“And how you love to tease her, papa!” 

“Well, yes, I do, my dear; but I suppose I am 
not to have the chance much longer. I say, I did 
not tell you, Deane, that I saw that chief of police 
yesterday. He was full of apologies to Frant 
about the arrest, and I must say he behaved very 
well after the truth came out. I mean about the 
legal business, and the setting of him free.” 

“ Aleck told me he did,” replied Deane. 

“Humph! Well, I want a fresh cigar,” said 
the Colonel, looking from one to the other, half- 


348 


A SECRET QUEST. 


pleased, half-regretfully. “ I shall go down yonder 
and send Valter up to valet you. You must get 
up.” 

“ Ready, sir. I ” began Deane ; and Hester 

darted a reproachful glance at her father. 

“Now, no nonsense; the day’s lovely. I shall 
tell the fellows to bring a chaise-a-porteurs up to the 
door in half an hour, and you shall go out in the 
fresh air. It will do you no end of good. I de- 
clare it has made me feel quite young.” 

“Yes, papa, you are wonderfully better.” 

“ But I shall be bad again when you take flight, 
puss. There, I know I’ll be in the fashion. You 
people are going to be married. Hang me, if I 
don’t have a wife too.” 

Hester laughed, for she knew him by heart ; and 
when early in the next spring there was a double 
marriage at the English church at Berne, and the 
old Colonel gave away daughter and step-sister, he 
did not keep his word ; neither did any one hang 
him. He hung himself, and frequently, upon his 
daughter’s neck. 

It was about six months after that wedding that 
Aleck Frant came, with his girlish-looking wife, to 
stay with the Deanes. After dinner, in the course 
of their chat over a cigar, Frant said to his host : 

“ Had a letter last week from Valter, to thank 
me for my congratulations on his marriage. Hopes 
to see us both again for a good climb. ” 

“Hah!” ejaculated Deane. “Poor old Valter! 
He was a good fellow, Aleck.” 


A SECRET QUEST. 


349 


“ Is a good fellow — is. What do you say to an- 
other trip to hunt for the myth?” 

“ For what?” 

“The gold mine.” 

“There is no need — I found it. ‘Adam’s myth’ 
proved to be a great and solemn truth.” 

“ I don’t quite ” began Frant. 

“ I found the gold mine, my dear boy — the old- 
est, purest there is; the love of a true woman — 
gold that is without alloy.” 


THE END. 


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